Will Garrett Whitlock prove himself a jack-of-all pitching trades Saturday when the Red Sox face the Tampa Bay Rays?
The Red Sox pitcher makes the first start of his Major League Baseball career in Saturday’s matchup of American League East rivals. Whitlock was a starting pitcher during his minor-league career in the New York Yankees’ system, but but all 50 of his MLB appearances have been as a relief pitcher for the Red Sox in 2021 and 2022. He has been a pitching unicorn so far in his MLB career and he now has the chance to show his stuff from the outset of the game.
The Red Sox lineup contains one notable change from the squad that started Thursday’s nail-biting win over the Rays in the series opener: Rob Refsnyder replaces Travis Shaw as designated hitter. Refsnyder, who joined Boston in November on a minor-league contract, bats ninth in his Red Sox debut.
Christian Vázquez moves up from ninth to eighth in the batting order to accommodate Refsnyder’s arrival.
NESN will air Red Sox versus Rays in full, with pregame coverage starting at 5 p.m. ET. First pitch from Tropicana Field is scheduled for 6:10 p.m., and postgame coverage immediately will follow the final out. Remember, if you’re on the go you also can catch all the action on Watch NESN Live.
Here are the starting lineups:
RED SOX (7-7)
Trevor Story, 2B
Rafael Devers, 3B
Xander Bogaerts, SS
Alex Verdugo, LF
Kiké Hernández, CF
Jackie Bradley Jr., RF
Bobby Dalbec, 1B
Christian Vázquez, C
Rob Refsnyder, DH
Garrett Whitlock, RHP (1-0, 0.93)
TAMPA BAY RAYS (7-7)
Brandon Lowe, 2B
Wander Franco, SS
Randy Arozarena, DH
Ji-Man Choi, 1B
Josh Lowe, LF
Taylor Walls, 3B
Kevin Kiermaier, CF
Brett Phillips, RF
Mike Zunino, C
J.P. Feyereisen, RHP (0-0, 0.00)
