My 2024 Red Sox Lineup

After a month of blubbering about what the Red Sox have and haven’t done his offseason, I’m finally trying to move on from the thought of a 2024 Red Sox team that can compete for the AL East title. It’s time to reconcile myself with the fact that the Red Sox will be spending yet another year playing out the string and setting the roster up for future seasons.

As sick as it makes me to think of it, the 2024 Red Sox are what they are. Even the thought of adding Adam Duvall as the extra righthanded bat to balance out the order feels too pie-in-the-sky for this team. Fenway Sports Group shopped at the Dollar Tree this offseason, so get ready for another year of O-B and Youk reminiscing about the Bobby Dalbec of early 2021 to justify his unholy presence on the roster.

However, anyone that’s familiar with my work understands that the offense is not nearly my primary concern with this team. There’s more pop in this lineup than many people are giving them credit for, even with Duvall and Justin Turner out of the mix. Everybody on the roster is 100% heading into spring training, and a couple guys whose contributions were cut short due to injuries will have the chance to reestablish themselves. There are also a few impressive youngsters looking to stake their claims as formidable MLB threats, not to mention a budding superstar whose early freshman slump now feels like a relic of the past.

Given what we saw last year and what we’ve heard heard this winter, Alex Cora’s Opening Day lineup will undoubtedly look different than mine. I have the utmost respect for AC’s wisdom, and I always trust him to make the right moves. However, we disagree philosophically in a couple areas relating to how to build a starting lineup. No judgement here though. I’m always willing to defer to the greatest Red Sox manager of all time.

Nonetheless, being a lineup nerd, I just couldn’t help but share with you the manner in which I would fill out the Red Sox lineup card on Opening Day of 2024.

1. Jarren Duran LF

I tinkered with the idea of putting Masataka Yoshida in the leadoff spot considering his ability to hit and draw walks. However, now that I’m pretty much certain there will be no additional righthanded power threat added to the team before the start of the season, I think we need Masa in the heart of the lineup. Plus Cora has already indicated that he intends to slot Jarren Duran at the top of the order, so I may as well just go along with his instinct. Jarren rocked a slash line of .319/.356/.567/.923 when he hit leadoff last year. He did taper off following his scorching start to the season, which gives me a bit of hesitation in theoretically giving him the most at bats on the team. Regardless, if he’s capable of sporting that kind of slash line during a hot streak in addition to his game-wrecking speed, he’s capable of being an adequate leadoff hitter as long as his mental and physical health are where they need to be. This is a calculated risk, but it’s one I’m willing to take.

2. Vaughn Grissom 2B

Yeah, I know. A pair of unestablished guys who haven’t put together a full MLB season as table-setters for the Boston Red Sox?
Look, we know what this season is. It’s an audition to see which current Red Sox have what it takes to play with Marcelo Mayer, Roman Anthony, and maybe Kyle Teel in a couple years. If that’s what we’re doing this year, we may as well see what we really have with Grissom, a solid contact hitter who conjures memories of a young Xander Bogaerts. He has a .289/.339/.407/.746 slash line in 216 MLB at-bats with enough pop to hit an occasional Fenway tape-measure blast. Without an ace (or a clear number two starter, for that matter), this season is just a glorified exhibition anyway. So let’s see if Vaughn has what it takes to reach his ceiling in a year where the pressure is off.

3. Rafael Devers 3B

I’ve never agreed with the concept of putting your best hitter in the two-hole, and I damn sure don’t want two lefties hitting first and second. I want to feel somewhat optimistic if the top of the order is coming up to face Josh Hader or one of the Rogers twins in the late innings, and stacking lefties together is a good way to take yourself out of a ballgame if your opponent has the southpaws to combat them. Call me old school (I’ve been called much worse), but I want my franchise player hitting third behind a couple guys who can get on base and put the defense on edge with their speed. Set the table for the mashers who can clear the bases. AC disagrees, but you can’t teach an old Brawler new tricks.

4. Trevor Story SS

Did I mention that I don’t like to stack lefties?
He’s been Busty McBusterson since he got to Boston, but I loved the Trevor Story signing when it was made in 2022. His first season was snake-bit, with everything from lockouts to injuries to explosive diarrhea sabotaging his chance to start his Red Sox tenure on a good note. After the UCL tear of 2023 and his subsequent inability to regain his timing at the plate, Story is now more hated in Boston than Carl Crawford and Clay Buchholz combined. I still believe in his talent though. He’s the same Trevor Story whose combination of power, speed, and defense got him MVP votes in three different years for the Rockies. Spare me with the mile-high merchant garbage, the Coors Field myth has been disproven time and time again. He’s not your traditional cleanup hitter, and the guy hitting fifth here would be the better option in an ambidextrous world. But Story has the homer and doubles power to drive in 80-90 runs in this lineup.
Jim Gordon believed in Harvey Dent, and I believe in Trevor Story.

5. Triston Casas 1B

Management apparently thinks righties are losers, so our next superstar has to bat fifth. I won’t abide Devers and Casas being sitting ducks for lefty flamethrowers without a buffer, so it is what it is. Just think of how compromised this lineup is going to be when Mayer, Anthony, and Teel (all lefties) are added to the mix. AL East opponents will corner the market on lefty relievers for a decade.
Casas will rake, we will all cheer, and the brass will shrug and refresh the Sea Dogs box score.

6. Masataka Yoshida DH

He’s good enough to hit at the top or the middle of the order, but there aren’t enough righties to compliment any of those alignments. Just imagine how scary this lineup will be if Duran and Grissom play to their potential, Story gets his timing back, and Yoshida figures out how to pace himself over a 162-game season. Of course, that’s three huge ifs out of six batters (#rebuild). I love Yoshida’s discipline and line drive swing, and I’m pretty sure I’ll LOVE seeing him DH 50 games a year so he won’t run out of steam quicker than my daughter’s electric Barbie jeep.

7. Cedanne Rafaela CF

Cora has proclaimed Rafaela to be the starting centerfielder for 2024, and I’m relieved to hear it. There was a lot of talk about him starting the year at second base (until Grissom was acquired) or, even worse, in Worcester. But “C Note” is the kind of outfielder you can build your defense around. His bat exploded in Worcester last season, showcasing the kind of power that may be on the horizon if he can figure out MLB pitching. The intrigue he roused in me from his year in Triple-A is why I have him hitting seventh rather than ninth. He could realistically hit .240 with very little pop and still justify a spot in the lineup with the defense he’ll contribute.

8. Wilyer Abreu RF

Tyler O’Neill will see a lot of time in right field as well, but I imagine that Abreu will be taking most of the reps there against righthanded pitching. He was great after being called up last year, putting up a slash line of .316/.388/.474/.862 with 14 RBI in 76 at bats. He seemed to have a knack for hitting at the big league level right out of the gate, but that could certainly be a case of beginner’s luck. His OBP alone was enough to earn him a long look as the primary right fielder, and his defense is good enough to man arguably the toughest right field in all of baseball. I’m excited to see what Wilyer can do in a full season, but I can’t look past the fact that we are now at our fifth question mark of this lineup.

9. Connor Wong C

Not much to see here. He’s a catcher whose defense still needs a little work, and he’ll pop one out of the yard on occasion. I’m not that concerned with his bat getting better, although that’d be pretty sweet if it did. Wong’s charge right now is to become the best defensive catcher he can be and give us all a reason to not just think of him as a placeholder until the Kyle Teel era is set to begin.

There are very few sure things in this lineup, but clearly Fenway Sports Group is not too concerned. They want to give us a team that will keep us entertained enough to keep buying tickets to “The Fenway Experience” while they prepare to start spending again sometime in the middle of the next presidential administration. This lineup should serve that purpose adequately enough, as at least a couple of the question marks above are bound to deliver.

As I said before, Alex Cora’s lineup will look different from mine. He likes Devers in the almighty two-hole, and he’s not as spooked as I am about featuring consecutive lefties in the order. Here’s my prediction for how Cora’s Opening Day lineup will look.

Jarren Duran LF
Rafael Devers 3B
Trevor Story SS
Triston Casas 1B
Masataka Yoshida DH
Vaughn Grissom 2B
Wilyer Abreu RF
Cedanne Rafaela CF
Connor Wong C

Seeing four lefties out of the first five hitters feels like acid in my brain, but maybe that’s a me problem.

All grievances aside, I’m looking forward to the start of the season. That’s not saying much though, because I’ve looked forward to every season since I was six. I am less enthusiastic now than I have been for a Red Sox season in a very long time. The offense, however, has very little to do with that.

I’m really excited to see this lineup in action. Devers and Casas should prove to be a lethal combination, I’m betting the farm on a Story resurgence, and I have very high hopes for the Duran/Grissom/Abreu trio. I’m not expecting a ton of wins this year, but I predict a very enjoyable offense that will leave Red Sox fans wanting more after Game 162.

Too bad the lights on this party will go out September 29th.