Boston Red Sox
“It simply occurred that for the primary time in years what you see early is what you’re most likely going to see on Opening Day.”
The Pink Sox gained’t formally open the 2026 MLB season till March 26 in Cincinnati.
However on Sunday, supervisor Alex Cora appeared to color a reasonably clear image as to what Boston’s Opening Day lineup would possibly seem like — because the Pink Sox’ spring-training bout towards the Blue Jays had a number of key fixtures in place.
Right here’s a have a look at Boston’s lineup from its eventual 11-10 win over Toronto.
- Roman Anthony DH
- Trevor Story SS
- Jarren Duran LF
- Willson Contreras 1B
- Wilyer Abreu RF
- Caleb Durbin 3B
- Ceddanne Rafaela CF
- Carlos Narváez C
- Isiah Kiner-Falefa 2B
“Simply attempting to win this league [Grapefruit League] so I simply felt that’s a great way to set it up,” Cora told MassLive’s Chris Smith on Sunday. “However yeah, it’s one thing I envision. And it simply occurred that for the primary time in years what you see early is what you’re most likely going to see on Opening Day.”
Cora introduced earlier this weekend that Anthony would be Boston’s leadoff hitter to open the 2026 campaign.
Anthony hit leadoff in 27 of his last 32 video games with Boston earlier than struggling a season-ending indirect damage in September 2025. In these video games the place Anthony batted leadoff, the 21-year-old star batted .336 with six residence runs, 17 RBIs, and a 1.003 OPS.
Past his robust hit instruments, Anthony’s plate self-discipline must also assist set the desk for the remainder of Boston’s order.
The subsequent man up appears to be shortstop Trevor Story within the No. 2 gap.
Story was arguably Boston’s most constant hitter final season, batting .263 with 25 residence runs and 96 RBI. He has the pop to plate Anthony, though his plate self-discipline and swing-first strategy (.308) does make him an intriguing option to put in such a characteristic function within the order.
Nevertheless, Cora believes that Story ought to be capable of persistently plate runners being pushed to date up within the lineup.
“What he did final yr, the final three months, he was among the best hitters within the large leagues,” Cora instructed Smith. “And it’s not about incomes or he deserves no matter. However the man stole 30 luggage, he drove in 90-something runs, hit 20-something homers.
“He was wonderful hitting the ball the opposite manner. And if that’s the case, he’s going to be surrounded by lefties, which at one level, they’re most likely going to deliver a lefty for Roman. He’ll face a lefty and he can money in.”
Boston’s first six batters within the lineup all alternate between lefties and righties, with three left-handed hitters in Rafaela, Naravaez, and free-agent pickup Isiah Kiner-Falefa rounding out the order.
Whereas there aren’t many surprises on this projected lineup, Kiner-Falefa — identified extra as a flexible defensive choice off the bench — over blue-chip expertise Marcelo Mayer is value noting.
Despite the fact that Mayer has seen a majority of his infield reps throughout spring coaching at second base, Cora famous earlier this weekend that Mayer won’t outright earn a spot on Boston’s Opening-Day roster.
“With Marcelo, like I stated yesterday or two days in the past, we’ll give him the baton, however he has to run,” Cora told MassLive’s Sean McAdam. “You recognize, if he desires to be the beginning second baseman in Cincinnati , there’s a variety of work to do. It’s not a provided that he’s second baseman or third baseman for this staff.
“There’s a variety of issues that he wants to point out us this spring, and we anticipate him to do this as a result of he’s that gifted, however on the identical time, there’s a variety of guys right here that may do the job.”
Mayer continues to be thought-about one in every of Boston’s prime prospects after getting drafted fourth general within the 2021 MLB Entry Draft. However the 23-year-old infielder has handled accidents over the previous couple of years within the minors, and batted simply .228 with 4 residence runs in 44 video games with Boston in 2025.
“He wasn’t nice offensively final yr,” Cora instructed McAdam. “He’ll be the primary one to let you know that. Defensively, he was wonderful. Base-running clever, he’s actually good. However offensively, there’s extra. We all know that, however he has to point out he can deal with this.”
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