Boston Red Sox fans: Meet Ian Kinsler.
The Red Sox officially added Kinsler to their 25-man roster Tuesday afternoon after acquiring the veteran second baseman Monday night in a trade with the Los Angeles Angels. He’ll bat sixth and play second base Tuesday night in the series finale of Boston’s two-game set with the Philadelphia Phillies at Fenway Park.
Kinsler will wear the No. 5 Red Sox jersey previously occupied by Tzu-Wei Lin, who was optioned to Triple-A Pawtucket on Tuesday in a corresponding move. Other Sox players to wear No. 5 recently include Allen Craig, Jonny Gomes and, of course, shortstop Nomar Garciaparra, who rocked the number in Boston from 1996 to 2004.
According to manager Alex Cora, who was Kinsler’s teammate for one season on the 2010 Texas Rangers, you can expect to see the second baseman in the No. 6 spot on a regular basis going forward.
“We really like fact that he puts the ball in play,” Cora said Tuesday in an interview with MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM. “Most likely he’ll hit sixth in our lineup. The top five, they get on base very often, so we feel that there’s going to be a lot of traffic when he comes up to bat, and with him making contact, he’s going to drive in a few runs.”
The 36-year-old veteran is batting at just a .239 clip, but he’s come on strong this past month, posting a .320 average in the month of July to date. His addition also gives the Red Sox some lineup flexibility, which they’ll utilize Tuesday by giving All-Star right fielder Mookie Betts the day off.
J.D. Martinez will play right field in Betts’ stead, while Eduardo Nunez will slide to third base and Brock Holt will serve as designated hitter.
Left-hander Drew Pomeranz gets the start on the mound for Boston, which is aiming for its fifth consecutive win after walking off against the Phillies on Monday night.
Here are the full lineups for Monday’s Red Sox-Phillies game:
RED SOX (75-33)
Andrew Benintendi, LF
Blake Swihart, C
Mitch Moreland, 1B
J.D. Martinez, RF
Xander Bogaerts, SS
Ian Kinsler, 2B
Eduardo Nunez, 3B
Brock Holt, DH
Jackie Bradley Jr., CF
Drew Pomeranz, LHP (1-4, 6.91 ERA)
PHILLIES (58-48)
Cesar Hernandez, 2B
Rhys Hoskins, LF
Carlos Santana, 1B
Asdrubal Cabrera, DH
Nick Williams, RF
Maikel Franco, 3B
Roman Quinn, CF
Jorge Alfaro, C
Scott Kingery, SS
Jake Arrieta, RHP (8-6, 3.45 ERA)
