The Red Sox activated Dustin Pedroia off the disabled list Friday, but he won’t make his return to the Boston lineup right away.
Somewhat surprisingly, Pedroia won’t be in the lineup Friday night when Boston opens a three-game interleague series against the Atlanta Braves.
Pedroia, who the Red Sox activated in a concurrent move with designating Hanley Ramirez for assignment, just finished an elongated rehab stint with the Pawtucket Red Sox. He hasn’t appeared in a big league game since October, undergoing knee surgery in the offseason.
President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said Friday the Red Sox want to give Pedroia one more day of rest, and the second baseman is expected to be in the lineup Saturday.
Instead of Pedroia, Brock Holt will start at second base for the Red Sox in their series opener with Atlanta. As an added benefit for the Red Sox, Holt has good numbers against Atlanta starter Julio Teheran. The utility man is 3-for-6 with a home run in his career against the Braves right-hander.
Holt’s not alone in having past success against Teheran, who is 0-2 with a 4.73 career ERA in two starts against the Red Sox.
Eduardo Rodriguez will start for the Red Sox.
Here are the complete lineups for Friday’s Red Sox vs. Braves game:
BOSTON RED SOX (34-16)
Mookie Betts, RF
Andrew Benintendi, LF
J.D. Martinez, DH
Mitch Moreland, 1B
Xander Bogaerts, SS
Rafael Devers, 3B
Brock Holt, 2B
Christian Vazquez, C
Jackie Bradley Jr., CF
Eduardo Rodriguez, LHP (4-1, 4.13 ERA)
ATLANTA BRAVES (29-19)
Ozzie Albies, 2B
Ronald Acuna Jr., RF
Freddie Freeman, 1B
Nick Markakis, LF
Kurt Suzuki, DH
Ender Inciarte, CF
Tyler Flowers, C
Johan Camargo, 3B
Dansby Swanson, SS
Julio Teheran, RHP (4-1, 4.17 ERA)
