Ryan Lavarnway Starting at Catcher for Red Sox As They Open Four-Game Set With Twins

Ryan Lavarnway will make his return to the big leagues on Thursday night, and he'll do so as the Red Sox' starting catcher.

Lavarnway, who was called up on Wednesday after Daniel Nava was placed on the disabled list, is penciled in as the starting catcher and hitting sixth for the Red Sox in their first of four games with the Minnesota Twins.

Lavarnway made his major league debut last season, appearing in 17 games and hitting .231 with four home runs and 10 RBIs. The Yale alum was hitting .295 with eight home runs and 43 RBIs at Pawtucket at the time of his call-up.

Samuel Deduno gets the start for the Twins, and it will be his first career appearance versus the Red Sox. Jon Lester, who owns 1-3 record with a 4.96 ERA in his career against Minnesota, takes the ball for Boston in the series opener.

Here is the Red Sox starting lineup.

Red Sox:
Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Carl Crawford, LF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Cody Ross, DH
Ryan Lavarnway, C
Will Middlebrooks, 3B
Ryan Kalish, RF
Pedro Ciriaco, SS

Jon Lester, P

Twins:
Denard Span, CF
Ben Revere, RF
Josh Willingham, DH
Justin Morneau, 1B
Ryan Doumit, LF
Danny Valencia, 3B
Brian Dozier, SS
Drew Butera, C
Alexi Casilla, 2B

Samuel Deduno, P