Who leads off for the Sox in interleague?

[Beckett95]

who leads off tomorrow against Philly? The sox have already said Ortiz is playing 1st, which means Youk wont be in the lineup.

 

My lineup would be...

 

Trot (has a .438 OBP this year)

Loretta

Ortiz

Manny

Varitek

Lowell

Willy Mo

Gonzalez

[TheRivernator]

Loretta

Trot

Ortiz

Manny

Lowell

Varitek

Pena

Gonzalez

Clement

[HeadOfSoxNation]

Call me crazy...but I have way more faith with Pena hitting this year than I do with Tek. I'd slip Pena into the 5 slot...

 

Trot

Loretta

Ortiz

Manny

Pena

Lowell

Gonzalez

Varitek

{Pitcher's Spot}

 

I know dropping Tek so far down and below Gonzo is going to throw some people into a tizzy...but Tek could add some pop to the bottom if by some chance Gonzo can get on base. The 3-4-5 of Ortiz, Manny, and Pena is TERRIFYING, the only think I don't like about it is stacking Pena and Manny right next to each other...in the late innings one righty reliever could be brought into face both of them...it'd be cool to see Manny, Ortiz, Pena because that would place a load of stress on managers to not have a righty/lefty or lefty/righty matchup in the late innings. Who knows? Why not shake something up?

[YazYaz04]

i don't know about tek 8th. I like the idea of trot leading off, and just leave everything else the same.

[ORS]

I can understand them wanting to give each of the guys (Lowell, Ortiz, Youk) a day off, so this probably won't happen, but you can get each of them in the lineup for all three games. Youk has played a few games in Pawtuckett at 2B (and one or two last year if I recall correctly). Loretta has played SS.

 

2B - Youk

SS - Loretta

1B - Papi

LF - Manny

RF - Trot

3B - Lowell

CF - Pena

C - Varitek

Pitcher

 

That would be the worst possible IF defense, excluding potential bizarre combinations, but it would put the best lineup on the field.

[Cocos Disciples]

the globe says its likely nixon.

[TheRivernator]

I can understand them wanting to give each of the guys (Lowell, Ortiz, Youk) a day off, so this probably won't happen, but you can get each of them in the lineup for all three games. Youk has played a few games in Pawtuckett at 2B (and one or two last year if I recall correctly). Loretta has played SS.

 

2B - Youk

SS - Loretta

1B - Papi

LF - Manny

RF - Trot

3B - Lowell

CF - Pena

C - Varitek

Pitcher

 

That would be the worst possible IF defense, excluding potential bizarre combinations, but it would put the best lineup on the field.

 

do you have any idea how frustrated you will be when you see a routine grounder get through the hole. Especially when Rollins is the leadoff man?

[Dana Kiecker]

Loretta's gotta cover more ground than Jeter..

 

So whats the point?

[Cityofchampions33]

The Sox are gunna have to choose what's more important, lead-off or power. Is ay they switch the first two nights and see which is more effective, and decide whether to play Lowell, or Youk, I say start Youk tonight because Lowell isn't a humungous power threat unless someone's on and he hits a double.

[ORS]

do you have any idea how frustrated you will be when you see a routine grounder get through the hole. Especially when Rollins is the leadoff man?

Yes, I do, which is why I said it's the worst defensive IF combination. It's amazing what happens when you actually read what someone is saying. And, that defense won't struggle with the routine play. What they won't do is take hits away.

[ksushi]

Loretta

Trot

Ortiz

Manny

Lowell

Varitek

Pena

Gonzalez

Clement

 

Lol, giving gonzalez too much credit.

 

Clement

Gonzalez

[Sizzlin22]

Youk playing second base has to be one of the worst ideas I've ever heard.

 

I say let Loretta lead off, follow him with Trot, rest of the line up as is.

[ORS]

Youk playing second base has to be one of the worst ideas I've ever heard.

 

I say let Loretta lead off, follow him with Trot, rest of the line up as is.

He's done it before, and he doesn't butcher the position. There have been far worse ideas proposed on this board.

[Beckett95]

He's done it before, and he doesn't butcher the position. There have been far worse ideas proposed on this board.

hes played 2 games at 2nd in his career. Ill take defense over offense especially in a national league game. Youk will be a key pinch hitter towards the end of the games.

[ORS]

hes played 2 games at 2nd in his career. Ill take defense over offense especially in a national league game. Youk will be a key pinch hitter towards the end of the games.

Two games in the bigs. Several in the minors. I agree that the defense will be lacking in that scenario, and I'm not all out in favor of doing it, but it's a viable option.

[mtbykr]

given the relative east that youk seems to adapt to a new position, it would be interesting to see! What are the odds of Cora seeing some starts?

[schillingouttheks]

Cora seeing starts? Maybe if Tito decides to rest Gonzo as well...

[Beckett95]

from the sox blog on boston.com

 

With there being no DH, Kevin Youkilis sits tonight, Trot Nixon bats leadoff and David Ortiz plays first base. Tomorrow, barring any unforeseen development, Youkilis will play third and Lowell will sit, with Big Papi sitting Sunday and Youkilis and Lowell manning the corners.