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The Red Sox need to shake up the top of their lineup to avoid slow starts
Instead of getting on Dustin May early, Boston gave him his best start of the season.
COMMENTARY
The Red Sox still have some searching — actually, a lot of searching — to do when it comes to making their lineup work offensively.
Certainly, plenty of those issues are correlated to the slow starts for many of Boston’s bats, but until the level of production changes, Alex Cora needs to keep refiguring the top of the lineup.
Boston’s slow starts have been hampering it early this season. And as of yet, the Red Sox have no clear fit for the top of the lineup. Jarren Duran, Caleb Durbin and Masataka Yoshida went 1-2-3 on Friday night with a chance to get on Dustin May early. May has been arguably the worst starter in MLB this season, but he went six full innings against Boston and only allowed one earned run.
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It isn’t like May painted corners, either. He only struck out four batters. The Red Sox just couldn’t generate many opportunities for themselves. Durbin went 0 for 3, Duran went 0 for 4, and so did Wilson Contreras batting fourth. Saturday made it abundantly clear that changes need to happen, especially to the top of the lineup.
So, how might Boston better construct its lineup to get itself some early leads?
Slide Wilyer Abreu and Roman Anthony into the 4 & 5 hole full-time
There’s no reason Abreu should be batting anywhere but fourth for the foreseeable future. He’s been by far the club’s most consistent hitter this season, and he also hits with more power than anybody in the lineup. If Abreu isn’t good enough to bat cleanup, who is?
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Anthony at the five seems to suit his current production level. Even with a slow start, he has far too much potential to bat lower, and certainly shouldn’t be riding the bench.
If Boston’s outfield was as deep in practice as it is on paper, then a slump like Anthony’s could warrant a day or two off. But there’s not enough offensive production to hold him out right now.
Try Yoshida or even Ceddanne Rafaela at leadoff
There are not many compelling options to bat first for the Red Sox right now. But Jarren Duran is slumping and totally out of sorts to start the year. He needs to be much lower in the order, if he’s in the lineup at all.
The name that seems to make the most sense right now to lead things off is Yoshida.
Yoshida has the confidence that a leadoff needs. He also quietly leads Boston in on-base percentage (.519), so he might give Boston a few more early scoring opportunities than what it’s getting right now.
Of course, Yoshida isn’t the fastest base runner; if Cora wants to keep that speed and bag-stealing ability at the top of the lineup, giving Rafaela a shot to lead off might make some sense. He’s having a better-than-average start to the year, batting .306. He still struggles with swing and misses, and his walk rate is on the lower side. But for a young defensive star that’s almost always batted last, Rafaela has at least proven he’s more valuable than a ninth hitter.
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Yoshida could be a good follow for Rafaela, too, if Cora would consider slotting both of them up high in the lineup.
Too early to consider a call-up?
Part of shaking things up for the Red Sox means accepting that there are players in the current lineup who don’t look like full-time starters. And while it’s definitely too early in the season to push a trade, there are a couple of prospects in Worcester who could be called up to light a few fires under the Red Sox.
Kristian Campbell is the big name in Worcester right now, but he actually may not be the best call-up candidate. Mickey Gasper has been raking in Worcester so far, batting .400 with three home runs, 12 RBIs and more walks than strikeouts.
Gasper could slide in at second, and Mayer and Story could fill third base and shortstop in whichever way makes more sense defensively.
With Gasper in, a Red Sox lineup could theoretically look like this:
CF Ceddanne Rafaela
DH Masataka Yoshida
1B Willson Contreras
RF Wilyer Abreu
LF Roman Anthony
3B Trevor Story
2B Mickey Gasper
SS Marcelo Mayer
C Carlos Narvaez
Would that be the best lineup in MLB? No, far from it. But it seems more productive than the group the Red Sox rolled out on Friday night in St. Louis.
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