The Sox play the Pirates tonight, and the game is going to be televised on the MLB Network at 6:05 Central time. So, as you may imagine, my plans for the night involve me, on my couch, watching the Red Sox game. I went on The Boston Globe website earlier today to see the line-up, and this is what I saw:
1. Aviles SS
2. Youkilis 3B
3. Pedroia 2B
4. Ortiz DH
5. Sweeney RF
6. Ross CF
7. Shoppach C
8. Anderson 1B
9. Kroeger LF
Pitching: RHP Clay Buchholz followed by RHP Vicente Padilla, RHP Chris Carpenter, LHP Jesse Carlson, RHP Will Inman.
At first, it appears to be a typical, Spring Training line-up, a mix of starters, reserves, and minor leaguers worth looking at. My first reaction though was Youkilis batting second. Huh?
Nick Cafardo has a section on The Boston Globe website where he answers readers mail and inquiries. One of the questions this past week was regarding whether or not Youkilis should bat lead-off because of his ability to get on base. Youkilis is “The Greek God of Walks,” after all. Here’s the question and answer from The Globe:
Is there any value in having Kevin Youkilis lead off for the Red Sox in 2012? Peter, Nobleboro, Maine
It's not a bad idea. Youkilis is a high OBP guy, so he would be in the mode of a Dwight Evans when he hit leadoff for the Red Sox. Valentine is going to do some interesting things with his lineup, he says. Youkilis has said in the past the one place he cannot hit in the order is leadoff. Valentine mentioned that he's going to try to shed players of this fear of the batting order.
Obviously, Valentine is doing some interesting things with his lineup. Youkilis is batting second while Pedroia bats their. Personally, I’d rather have Pedroia batting second because he has the better chance of getting on base and possibly producing a steal. Youkilis, while patient at the plate and able to foul off many balls in a row, isn’t exactly a base-stealing threat. Of course, these are just my opinions. Could be a fascinating game
tonight though.
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