Well, Francona caused a bit of a stir today when he announced the Opening Day lineup in Texas.

 

It is as follows:

 

1. Jacoby Ellsbury CF, 

2. Dustin Pedroia 2B, 

3. Carl Crawford LF, 

4. Kevin Youkilis 3B, 

5. Adrian Gonzalez 1B, 

6. David Ortiz DH, 

7. Mike Cameron RF, 

8. Jarrod Saltalamacchia C

9.  Marco Scutaro SS

 

This lineup raised eyebrows in two places.  First was at clean up. Now we all know from last weeks entry where the "everyday"  lineup was discussed, Gonzales was clean up and Youkilis was fifth.  So What Gives? Was Francona hiding his intentions from the rest of the league?  Doubtful.  Second, Much ado is also being made about JD Drew not starting, but if you've been reading here, you know that Cameron is going to see action against tough lefties, and that JD Drew has hit his way (or "not hit" his way) in to a platoon situation, despite Francona's comments to the contrary.  And that's what we have opening day in Texas, a lefty starting, so that was not a surprise to me.  

 

Cameron's too good a player not to get at bats, and he historically has killed lefties.  Francona has a track record of using qualified bench guys more than most, keeping the starters fresh, and this is obviously an indication that he and Drew have "had the talk", that Ortiz got last year.  If it doesn't look like a true platoon, it'll only be because Cameron will play for Ortiz and Drew on some sort of rotating basis, but I'll be surprised to see both David and Drew in a lineup against a lefty.  Should Drew hit his way out of the platoon, we'll see Cameron hit for David in these situations, and if Ortiz hits lefties (Note: Very unlikely both Drew and Ortiz will hit lefties this year, but IF), Cameron will be the hard luck loser.  I fully expect Cameron to see 250 ABs by seasons end, and that's if everyone stays healthy - someone will get hurt (and that includes Cameron), so those numbers could change, but he's going to play a lot if healthy.

 

But that still leaves us with the big mystery:  Why move Gonzales fifth?  I don't see any difference here with Youk fourth and Gonzales fifth - you still have one of your top two hitters hitting fifth, so I have the same complaint with this lineup as the other "everyday lineup"  from that standpoint. Basically, I think, with the lefty on the mound, Francona is moving his lefty/lefty issue further down the lineup.  As noted previous, it's not that much of an issue, especially if Gonzales returns to his historical lefty crushing numbers, which I'm sure he will at home.  But they are on the road, so why not move the risk lower in the order?  Makes sense to me, and it probably takes a little pressure off Adrian G, who will probably want to hit two home runs during each at bat to show he belongs. (Breathe AG, Breathe!!)

 

I'm pretty sure that's all it is.  If anything, it's an indication of how highly Francona thinks of Youk - he basically thinks they are both the same offensive power players.  I think eventually that Gonzo will be better, most do, but he hasn't done it yet in a Sox uniform, and until he does, Francona looks like he'll give the nod to Youk in these situations.  And he probably should, he sure as hell has earned it.  Look for the everyday lineup to reappear as soon as a righty is on the mound.  But at least it'll keeps us glued to the lineup cards for a week or two.

 

Only time will tell who will end up with more ABs in the fifth spot.  I still would like to see Crawford there- which would eliminate moving the guys around based on the opposing pitcher, by the way - but it's not going to happen without some surprising developments.

 

 

 

Do Good Things Today!

 

 Matt Heisler