After reading this, I figured it was worth a shot at scribbling out the Red Sox’ Opening Day lineup.
OK, so I’m not actually scribbling … it’s actually typing. But you get the idea. And truth be told, writing out a lineup isn’t a terribly difficult task, though – for whatever reason – it’s something baseball fans have enjoyed over the years. In a bygone time, you’d sit at a bar and scribble out the names on a cocktail napkin or on the back of a receipt. Now we type them up, add a headline and a photo, and … voila. Clickbait.
So, with the Red Sox scheduled to begin their season on Thursday in Cincinnati, we figured we’d take a crack at what Red Sox manager Alex Cora will bring to home plate when the Sox begin their 2026 campaign.
Given that the Reds are scheduled to pitch left-handed starter Andrew Abbott against the Sox, the guess is that the lineup will look something like this:
(R) Willson Contreras, 1B
Now, before you get all over me and tell me how much of an idiot I am, let me offer up some basic principles.
First, more than ever, Major League Baseball has become so matchup-oriented (you can blame analytics for this) that it’s as if the data is on steroids. But the game has always been about left-right matchups. The Red Sox of the early 2000s had a balanced lineup that featured a nucleus of the left-handed David Ortiz and the right-handed Manny Ramirez. Most pitchers had a vulnerability to one or the other – if not both – and the idea is always to have as many hitters who can effectively perform against both left-handed and right-handed pitching.
There was a time when the Red Sox had eight or nine batters who could basically do that, but those kinds of players cost money. So what do teams do now to cut costs at a time when owners are positioning themselves for a major labor battle over a salary cap? They rely on analysts, managers and coaches to find platoon matchups that are cheaper and, on paper, similarly effective.
At least during the regular season.
A few points about this year’s lineup:
MIAMI, FLORIDA – MARCH 15: Roman Anthony #3 of Team United States runs around the bases after hitting a solo home run against Team Dominican Republic \d4i at loanDepot park on March 15, 2026 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)
* First, Anthony is the key to the lineup – and not just because of his pure talent. He’s also the only left-handed batter with some consistent history of being able to hit left-handers. This means the Sox can put other lefties in Anthony’s vicinty without compromising the lineup too much. For example, let’s say the Red Sox pinch-hit for Ceddanne Rafaela with a left-handed batter like Masatka Yoshida. Given that Yoshida hit .226 against LHPs last year, the opposition might counter with a lefty reliever.
Thanks to the three-batter minimum, the opposing left-hander would then have to face both Anthony and Trevor Story, the first of whom can handle lefties and the second of whom has historically pummeled them. Get the idea? At worst, the Red Sox lose the first at-bat, tie the second (with Anthony) and win the third (with Story). Given Anthony’s talent, they might actually win 2-of-3.
* Now, second: By hitting Narvaez fifth and Abreu sixth, the Sox avoid stacking two lefties – Duran and Abreu – in a three-batter span that could leave them vulnerable. Durran batted just .211 against lefties last season while Abreu hit just .230. (Both also hit for considerably less power.) Cora said he plans to let both Duran and Abreu face lefties this season, but splitting them by at least two hitters is the smart thing to do, at least to start.
Without getting too bogged down in minutiae here, there’s one final point: Durbin and Monasterio might seem interchangeable in the 7-8 positions – and they generally are. I like Monasterio in the seventh spot because he has more power and because he and Durbin are similar against right-handed pitching. The obvious problem is that Mayer enters the game as a defensive replacement for Monasterio – and he will – Abreu and Mayer (both vulnerable to lefties) will be stacked at 6-7, which could make them an easy target for an opposing manager.
Of course, if Mayer enteres the game for defense, the presumpttion is that the Red Sox will have the lead. Cora might be willing to sacrifice the at-bat for the defense, relying on the back end of his bullpen (Garrett Whitlock and Aroldis Chapman) to close out the game.
And last season, as we know, Whitlock and Chapman were arguably the best late-inning tandem in baseball.
Tony Massarotti is the co-host of the number 1 afternoon-drive show, Felger & Mazz, on 98.5 The Sports Hub. He is a lifelong Bostonian who has been covering sports in Boston for the last 20 years. Tony worked for the Boston Herald from 1989-2008. He has been twice voted by his peers as the Massachusetts sportswriter of the year (2000, 2008) and has authored five books, including the New York times best-selling memoirs of David Ortiz, entitled “Big Papi.” A graduate of Waltham High School and Tufts University, he lives in the Boston area with his wife, Natalie, and their two sons. Tony is also the host of The Baseball Hour, which airs Monday to Friday 6pm-7pm right before most Red Sox games from April through October. The Baseball Hour offers a full inside look at the Boston Red Sox, the AL East, and all top stories from around the MLB (Major League Baseball).