We already know the Boston Red Sox lineup will feature some minor tweaks in 2019.
Manager Alex Cora said in the offseason that he planned to shift American League MVP Mookie Betts out of the leadoff spot, dropping him to the No. 2 spot in a swap with Andrew Benintendi.
But while the top two spots in the batting order already have been laid out for us, Cora revealed his early plans for how the rest of the lineup will shake out Saturday via Boston Sports Journal’s Sean McAdam, and said he could be mixing things up after Benintendi and Betts.
“We’ll do it like last year,” Cora said. “I like when J.D. (Martinez) comes up with men on and when he hits fourth, he’s either up in the first inning with men on or leads off with nobody on. It’s a better at-bat for us, instead of two outs and nobody on.
“We’ll talk about it. The cool thing is, there’s going to be days when Mookie and J.D. are going to hit back-to-back and it’s going to be a little bit tougher (for opposing pitchers). They might pitch around (Betts), but the cool things is that Mookie doesn’t expand the zone and he’s still going to be the same guy, regardless. Maybe J.D. might benefit from having (Betts and Martinez) back-to-back. It will be interesting.”
The one thing that is expected to remain constant in the middle of the Sox’s order is Xander Bogaerts, who Cora said will bat directly after Martinez, whether that comes fourth or fifth in the lineup.
“That’s a given,” Cora said. “I love the fact that he puts the ball in play. We need somebody behind (Martinez) to put the ball in play, drive the ball. He hits with two strikes and in the spot where he hits behind J.D., there’s going to be a lot of traffic like last year.”
When Martinez bats fourth, that leaves the third spot in the order open to the likes of lefty Mitch Moreland, righty Steve Pearce or lefty Rafael Devers.
The Red Sox have the benefit of having one of the deeper lineups in the American League, with a mix of contact and power hitters up and down the order on either side of the plate. There also is a plethora of guys that can play different positions, giving Cora some flexibility when filling out his lineup card on a daily basis, which is not a bad spot to be in as the Sox try to defend their 2018 World Series title.
