SEATTLE -- Scott Servais hasn’t announced his starting lineup yet for Thursday’s home opener against the Red Sox, but the Mariners' manager said Wednesday that outfielder Mallex Smith will definitely be in center field after returning from a sprained right elbow that sidelined him most of the spring.

The 25-year-old speedster went 0-for-6 in two exhibition games against the Padres this week, but lined out in his final two at-bats as he looked to regain his timing at the plate. Smith did get about 20 at-bats in Minor League contests on the backfields in Peoria, Ariz., while the Mariners were opening their season in Japan, but didn’t play in any Cactus League games.

As a result, Smith heads into Thursday’s game against Red Sox ace Chris Sale, who is extremely tough on left-handed hitters, with very limited exposure to Major League pitching this spring.

Smith, acquired from the Rays in the trade for Mike Zunino, was expected to lead off and play center, but it remains to be seen if Servais immediately slots him in atop the order against Sale, who held lefty hitters to a .170/.224/.200 slash line last year with 41 strikeouts and three walks in 107 plate appearances.

Smith has one hit and three strikeouts in 10 career at-bats against Sale. Dee Gordon, another lefty, played well in the leadoff role in both games in Tokyo and is 1-for-6 with a walk and one strikeout in his career against the seven-time All-Star.

Mitch Haniger will move back to his usual spot in right field after starting in center in Japan, with Domingo Santana in left field and Smith roaming the middle of spacious T-Mobile Park.

“We’ll get him out there and get him going,” Servais said prior to the Mariners’ final workout Wednesday. “He is our primary center fielder. I’m not going to go out and play him seven consecutive days. There’ll be a day off here or there at some point because he hasn’t played a ton, but I thought his at-bats were really good the last couple at-bats yesterday.”

Smith hit .296/.367/.406 with 27 doubles, two homers and an American League-leading 10 triples last season for the Rays. His 40 stolen bases ranked third in the Majors.

Bring ‘em on

The Mariners face the defending World Series champion Red Sox in their opening home series, which is nothing new for Servais. His first year with Seattle in 2016, the Mariners opened at the defending AL West champion Rangers.

In 2017, they opened at the Astros, who went on to win the World Series that year. Last season’s opener was against the Indians, who were coming off a 102-win season as AL Central champs.

“We have no choice,” Servais said. “The last few years it was the Astros, the Indians and now the Red Sox right out of the chute. It’s OK. You have to play these teams, play the full schedule. Opening up against the world champs, why not? We’ll go head to head with them and see where we’re at.”

Of course, the Mariners already have faced the A’s in Tokyo, where they went 2-0 against a club that won 97 games last season and was an AL Wild Card club.

Seattle beat the Indians 2-1 last year in their opener, but lost at Houston 3-0 in 2017 and 3-2 at Texas in ’16.

New look behind the plate

T-Mobile Park signs aren’t the only changes fans will notice at the former Safeco Field on Thursday. A short brick wall has been installed at the base of the netting behind home plate. Two rows of seating have been added at the front of the Diamond Club seating, reducing the area behind the plate by a few feet.

The biggest change will be how pitches that get past catchers rebound off the brick barrier.

“It’s different,” acknowledged Servais, a former catcher. “With the signage back there and the T-Mobile Park sign, if it hits one of those metal letters, the ball could shoot anywhere. You literally could score from second base if the ball ricochets there if you are a good runner and the other team isn’t on top of it right away. It will scoot away from the catcher.

“You’ll see interesting things happen back there that we never had to worry about before. I think aesthetically it looks great. I kind of like the look. How it plays will be random, where the ball is going to go."

Worth noting

• Felix Hernandez threw five innings of a simulated game on Wednesday against Mariners hitters Daniel Vogelbach, Dylan Moore and David Freitas and remains on schedule to make his season debut Monday night against the Angels.

• Servais reiterated that Moore will play a fair amount as the new utility player and he’d like to get him at least one start during the six-game homestand. That likely will come at third base, though the 25-year-old can play anywhere in the infield as well as the corner outfield spots.

“He’s going to play,” Servais said. “He’s not just going to be your once-every-two-week utility guy. We’d not have put him on this team if that was going to be the case.”

• Injured relievers Shawn Armstrong (strained left oblique) and Gerson Bautista (strained right pectoral) both continued playing catch as they work toward returning from the 10-day injured list, but the closest reliever to returning is veteran right-hander Anthony Swarzak .

Swarzak was held out most of the spring with right shoulder soreness, but has been pitching in Minor League games in Arizona the past week and could return as early as the upcoming road trip to Chicago and Kansas City.