Buster Olney, through ESPN, has given us his projected Red Sox batting order. Let’s critique, shall we?
According to Buster Olney, the Red Sox will lead off with 2008 MVP Dustin Pedroia, followed by Carl Crawford, Kevin Youkilis and recently acquired Adrian Gonzalez batting leadoff. After that, they will still have David Ortiz, Jed Lowrie, JD Drew, Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Jacoby Ellsbury. 2011 can’t come fast enough for the Red Sox Nation.
Let’s first assume that Olney meant to say Gonzalez will be batting clean up. Secondly, I am not sure I like this order very much. Let us play armchair manager and put together a stacked Red Sox batting order.
I’d like to figure out who will be playing what position next year. As of right now, playing catcher will be Jarrod Saltalamacchia. The newly acquired Gonzalez will occupy first base, while Pedroia will aptly handle second base duties.
We can take Olney’s route and assume that Lowrie will be our starting shortstop. We all hope he will be in top condition with no injuries, but he has been known to hurt a few things along the way.
Moving from first base and occupying third, this coming season, will be none other than the guy who just puts his head down and plays ball, Mr. Youkilis. Once again, in left field will be the speedy Ellsbury, while taking over duties in center will be newly acquired and equally as speedy Crawford. Right field duties will be left to injury prone, but still with a cannon for an arm, Drew.
Now if those hold true, then here is what I believe should be the Boston Red Sox opening day lineup:
Leading off: Jacoby Ellsbury—When not injured, he was a league leader in steals, and he is becoming more patient at the plate with every at bat.
Batting second should be Dustin Pedroia—Why mess with this successful combination at the beginning of the order?
Give me a powerful bat in Gonzalez next. The guy can flat out hit, but it being his first year at Fenway, I think he would better serve the team batting third and leaving clean-up to the bald guy.
Clean-up duties would be handed to Youkilis. Youk has proven time and time again to be the consistent clutch hitter that the Red Sox fans love so dearly. The guy is a player and belongs in this spot.
After Youk, it gets a little tricky, but here is my logic.
Next let’s bat Crawford. With the acquisition of Crawford and Gonzalez, the Sox have the luxury of essentially starting their batting order over again after the clean-up spot.
Batting sixth would be Lowrie. He showed us last year that he is constantly improving, and if he can remain healthy, he is an on-base type of player that can provide RBI for the next guy.
Batting seventh, I would bring Drew to the plate. The two guys ahead of him have gotten on base, and he has the bat to bring them home. If he cannot succeed, then most certainly the best DH in baseball can.
In the eighth spot, and hopefully not starting his season off as slowly as the past two years, would be Ortiz. Even with the first month slump of the past two seasons, Ortiz has knocked in 20-30 plus homers and around 100 RBI consistently.
And rounding out the Sox lineup at the bottom of the batting order would be Saltalamacchia. The kid may be a decent hitter, but with the power and on-base percentage this club has on its roster, Saltalamcchia would be relegated to the ninth spot.
Many things may and probably will change between now and opening day. Injuries and further acquisitions will definitely affect the Fenway landscape, but as for now, this is how I would do it if Tito Francona were to call me up and hand me the reins.
How would you set this power packed line-up?
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