Brock Holt arguably has been the best player on the Boston Red Sox’s roster this season. In 10 games, Holt is batting a scorching .424, and he hit his first home run of the season during Friday night’s 7-5 Red Sox win.
Despite the hot start, Holt will not be in Boston’s starting lineup Saturday versus the Baltimore Orioles.
Red Sox manager John Farrell doesn’t like having to keep Holt out of the lineup but sees it as a necessary evil in order to get his regular starters into a groove.
“Yeah I mean it’s not so much the matchups with Brock, it’s the matchups with other guys, trying to get everyone clicking a little bit more than we have,” Farrell told The Boston Herald. “Because Brock’s swing is so compact and consistent, who’s to say some days off isn’t helping him stay fresh and strong in his own right? Conventional wisdom would say hell, he should be playing every single day. But we’ve got a team to think of and bring along.”
Farrell added Holt likely would be in the lineup Sunday.
Allen Craig gets a start in right field Saturday, replacing Shane Victorino, who has been placed on the 15-day DL.
On the bump, Justin Masterson looks to build upon his strong outing against this same Orioles team last Monday in which he struck out six batters in five innings.
Here’s Saturday’s lineups.
RED SOX (10-7)
Mookie Betts, CF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
David Ortiz, DH
Hanley Ramirez, LF
Mike Napoli, 1B
Pablo Sandoval, 3B
Allen Craig, RF
Xander Bogaerts, SS
Ryan Hanigan, C
Justin Masterson, RHP
ORIOLES (7-10)
Alejandro De Aza, LF
Jimmy Paredes, DH
Adam Jones, CF
Chris Davis, 1B
Travis Snider, RF
Manny Machado, 3B
Rey Navarro, 2B
Caleb Joseph, C
Everth Cabrera, SS
Wei-Yin Chen, LHP
Thumbnail image via Tommy Gilligan/USA TODAY Sports Images
