Jackie Bradley Jr. will make his first start of the 2014 season Thursday night against the Baltimore Orioles.
The 23-year-old will bat ninth for the Boston Red Sox and replace Grady Sizemore, who went 2-for-8 with a home run in his first two starts, in center field.
Jonny Gomes gets the nod in left field and slides into the leadoff spot for his second appearance in the Red Sox lineup this season. Daniel Nava, who batted leadoff and scored two runs in Wednesday night’s 6-2 victory in Baltimore, will bat sixth.
Sox catcher David Ross also will make his first start of the season, batting eighth and catching for starting pitcher Felix Doubront, who posted an 11-6 record with 139 strikeouts in 27 starts in 2013.
Xander Bogaerts has been moved up in the order from seventh to fifth after going 1-for-2 with two walks Wednesday. He’s the youngest player to start in the No. 5 spot for the Red Sox since Joe Lahoud in 1968, according to the team’s PR department.
Check out the starting lineups for both teams below.
Boston Red Sox (1-1)
Jonny Gomes, LF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
David Ortiz, DH
Mike Napoli, 1B
Xander Bogaerts, SS
Daniel Nava, RF
Will Middlebrooks, 3B
David Ross, C
Jackie Bradley Jr., CF
Felix Doubront, LHP
Baltimore Orioles (1-1)
Nick Markakis, RF
J.J. Hardy, SS
Chris Davis, 1B
Adam Jones, CF
Nelson Cruz, LF
Matt Wieters, C
Delmon Young, DH
Jonathan Schoop, 2B
Ryan Flaherty, 3B
Wei-Yin Chen, LHP
