< Back to Front Page Text size – +

Lineup

Email|Link|Comments (4) Posted by Adam Kilgore, Globe Staff March 23, 2009 09:20 AM

The Red Sox have got the Detroit Tigers today, pitted against former AL East mound foe Edwin Jackson. This offseason, you may recall, Tampa Bay sent Jackson to Detroit for Matt Joyce. Boston has an impressive, near-midseason bunch to face Jackson, and a notable pitcher to oppose him. Brad Penny will make his long-awaited debut today and is scheduled to throw three innings.

Nothing has been easy with Penny, beset by a fatigued shoulder, this spring -- it evened rained this morning. The tarp is coming off now, though, and the rain ought to stay away. Jonathan Papelbon, Takashi Saito, and Javier Lopez, among others, are down to throw after Penny today.

Also, note that Kevin Youkilis is back in the field, the foot injury that removed him from the World Baseball Classic sufficiently healed. The USA might have missed his presence in the 9-4 loss to Japan that eliminated it last night from the WBC. Daisuke Matsuka looked liked himself, giving up two earned runs on two hits and three walks and striking out four in 4 2/3 innings. And, pretty much like always, Matsuzaka got the win. If you Youkilis had been there?

"Probably 2 for 2 with a walk," Youkilis jokingly said Saturday. "Maybe take him deep. I might walk two times. I'd take his crap, that slider he throws."

Without further ado:

Red Sox
1. Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
2. Dustin Pedroia, 2B
3. David Ortiz, DH
4. Kevin Youkilis, 1B
5. Mike Lowell, 3B
6. Jason Bay, LF
7. Chris Carter, RF
8. Jed Lowrie, SS
9. Dusty Brown, C
-- Brad Penny, SP

« Back to Front Page

4 comments so far...

Why not switch Ortiz and Youk in the lineup? Ortiz is more of a cleanup hitter and Youk hits for higher average.

Posted by Ferd March 23, 09 12:56 PM

I'm usually an apologist for you guys, but seriously:
"it evened rained"
"looked liked himself"
"If you Youkilis had been there."

C'mon, you do this for a living.

Posted by CM March 23, 09 01:07 PM

I agree

Posted by sobrien March 23, 09 02:04 PM

There are two reasons I can think of why Terry does not switch Ortiz and Youkilis. One, Terry likes to have his line up be varied, lefty, righty, lefty, righty etc and if you put youk in the 3 hole you have two right handed batters right after each other. Second, Ortiz likes to bat 3rd, he is more comfortable in that spot. Keep in mind that David used to bat 4th behind Manny for a while before they were switched and that worked out better for both hitters.

Posted by pierre March 23, 09 02:26 PM