Jackie Bradley Jr. won’t have an opportunity to break out of his slump Friday.
Bradley, who is hitless in his last 27 at-bats, will sit for the third time in four games as the Boston Red Sox open a three-game series against the Los Angeles Angels at Angels Stadium of Anaheim.
Bradley went 0-for-3 with a strikeout in Thursday’s series finale against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium. The struggling outfielder hasn’t collected a hit since July 26. He has 13 strikeouts in that span.
It’s been a difficult season for Bradley, who is hitting .216. The 24-year-old showed offensive improvement right before the All-Star break and to begin the second half, but he has fallen back into old habits of late. While Bradley remains an elite defender, his lack of offensive production has knocked him down the totem pole in Boston’s crowded outfield.
Brock Holt will start in center field for Friday’s series opener in Los Angeles. He’ll be joined in the outfield by Yoenis Cespedes (left field) and Daniel Nava (right field).
Christian Vazquez will get the start behind the dish with Allen Webster toeing the rubber. Vazquez has started the Red Sox’s last five games.
Friday’s complete lineups are below.
Boston Red Sox (50-64)
Brock Holt, CF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
David Ortiz, DH
Yoenis Cespedes, LF
Mike Napoli, 1B
Daniel Nava, RF
Xander Bogaerts, SS
Will Middlebrooks, 3B
Christian Vazquez, C
Allen Webster, RHP (1-1, 6.75 ERA)
Los Angeles Angels (67-47)
Kole Calhoun, RF
Mike Trout, CF
Albert Pujols, 1B
Josh Hamilton, LF
Erik Aybar, SS
Howie Kendrick, 2B
David Freese, 3B
Efren Navarro, DH
Chris Iannetta, C
Jered Weaver, RHP (12-6, 3.59 ERA)
