Red Sox Using This Potential Opening Day Lineup Against Rays

The Red Sox lineup for Opening Day a few weeks from now in Seattle might look familiar to what Alex Cora will roll out Tuesday in Grapefruit League action.

The Boston manager penciled in a lineup full of regulars for the midweek clash with the Tampa Bay Rays (1 p.m.; NESN/NESN360). It wouldn’t be surprising to see the lineup card for the season opener against the Mariners on March 28 be the same as this one.

Jarren Duran, CF
Rafael Devers, 3B
Trevor Story, SS
Triston Casas, 1B
Masataka Yoshida, DH
Tyler O’Neill, LF
Wilyer Abreu, RF
Connor Wong, C
Enmanuel Valdez, 2B

Garrett Whitlock is starting on the mound for the Red Sox, and he’s probably not going to be the Opening Day starter, so there is that difference.

Otherwise, it does look like an early dress rehearsal. Cora already made it clear he saw Duran as the obvious choice to start things off, even going as far to say the Red Sox had one of the best offenses in the leagues with Duran at the top. Devers in the two-hole makes sense, too, in line with the widely held belief that a team’s best hitter should hit second in the lineup.

A lot of the Red Sox offensive success will depend on what the middle of the order can do. Health limited the sample size (43 games), but Trevor Story had by far the worst offensive career of his season in 2023. His .566 OPS was nearly 300 points lower than his career mark, and he had more strikeouts than total bases for the first time in his career. If he can’t bounce back, that’s a major issue in the heart of the lineup.

But if Story can bounce back, and Triston Casas can build on the developmental success he enjoyed last season, and Masataka Yoshida improves on his first season in America, then the lineup becomes far more formidable. Ultimately, the lineup will be lengthened by the return of second baseman Vaughn Grissom, the likely everyday second baseman, who is still down with a groin injury. He’s unlikely to be ready for Opening Day. For as many holes as there might be in his defensive game, he has displayed some pop in limited big league appearances while posting an .884 OPS in his minor league career.

Red Sox fans wanting to catch a first glimpse at this Red Sox lineup can tune in to NESN at 1 p.m. ET on Tuesday afternoon when Boston welcomes its division rival to the Fort. You can also stream the game on NESN360.