Nowadays -- with less men on base -- what matters most is to get your best home run hitters as many at bats as possible... and for a modern "first-strike" offense like Boston's, that means making sure both JD and Devers bat in the first inning. Teams also seem more determined than ever to alternate lefty and righty batters, especially now, with the new three-batter minimum for pitchers.
Of course, for one hundred years, when speed and contact were more in fashion, it was good to have a guy in the #2 hole who could handle a bat and hit to the right side; in the best interests of scoring first, hitting behind the runner was a key to moving a leadoff into scoring position. In that regard -- with swift southpaw swingers like Beni and Verdugo probably slated for #1 -- JD may be the Sox best righty stick who can go oppo, with authority (Bogie can hit to right, but they -- and we -- prefer he swings away and doesn't poke the ball, like he did pre-Cora).