Red Sox Rolling Out Opening Day Lineup Preview Vs. Orioles?

With 10 days to go before Opening Day, Red Sox manager Alex Cora might be using Monday’s matinee vs. Baltimore as a dress rehearsal for his club.

Cora has already been forthcoming about some of his regular-season lineup decisions, and it doesn’t take the most seasoned ball-knower to expertly read between the lines with how he’ll fill out the rest of his card when it matters. As such, Monday’s game against Baltimore (1 p.m. ET, NESN/NESN 360) might offer a prime contender for how the lineup will look when the Red Sox begin their season at Texas on March 27.

Here’s how the Sox will line up Monday against Baltimore at JetBlue Park:

Jarren Duran, LF
Rafael Devers, DH
Alex Bregman, 3B
Triston Casas, 1B
Trevor Story, SS
Wilyer Abreu, RF
Connor Wong, C
Kristian Campbell, 2B
Ceddanne Rafaela, CF

Tanner Houck, SP

Of course, we already know Garrett Crochet (who dominated again this weekend) will be Boston’s Opening Day starting pitcher, so it might not be a carbon copy on March 27, but everything else looks more possible.

Cora has already said he wants the top half of his lineup to go Duran, Devers, Bregman, Casas and Story. That is more or less written in pen at this point. What is interesting to note, though, is that Devers on Monday is slotted in as the designated hitter with Bregman at third base. Devers’ desire to play third base has been one of the top two or three storylines of the entire camp, and it seems like cooler heads have prevailed.

Additionally, it took Devers — who dealt with shoulder issues last year and has a revamped swing — a while to get on the field in Florida. Using him at DH could help ease him into the 162-game grind.

Another major storyline has been the play of Boston’s top prospects. The recent hot streak from Campbell has perhaps forced the team’s hand regarding Devers and Bregman on the infield. If Campbell — one of the top prospects in baseball — is too good to start in the minors, it changes the dynamic some. Cora acknowledged over the weekend the Sox essentially had a good problem to solve with the capable players they have who could play second.

With all of that being said, it would still be foolish to write any of this in stone. Monday is a split-squad day for the Red Sox, and two other players in the running for that second base job, David Hamilton and Vaughn Grissom, will make the trip to Venice, Fla., to play the Braves. Hamilton will play shortstop with Grissom at second. Marcelo Mayer and Roman Anthony will also be in the lineup at CoolToday Park. Anthony will get even more reps in center field, while Mayer interestingly gets the start at third base.

Coverage of the Red Sox-Orioles game from JetBlue Park in Fort Myers, Fla., begins live at 1 p.m. ET on NESN and NESN 360. The Red Sox-Braves game will also be on NESN+ and NESN 360 beginning at 1 p.m.