FORT MYERS, Fla. -- With the idea of getting his most dynamic hitter to the plate more often, Red Sox manager John Farrell is leaning toward hitting Mookie Betts third instead of fourth to start the season.
That was the alignment Farrell went with for Thursday's game against the Pirates and the one you will likely see on April 3, when the Red Sox open their season at Fenway Park against the same opponent.
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Earlier in Spring Training, Farrell mentioned the idea of hitting rookie Andrew Benintendi third to break up his righties.
"It's still a thought," said Farrell.
But the way Farrell is leaning right now, leadoff man Dustin Pedroia will be followed by Benintendi, Betts and Hanley Ramirez. Left-handed Mitch Moreland hit fifth on Thursday, with righty Xander Bogaerts in the sixth spot in his first game back from the World Baseball Classic.
Bogaerts would have hit second in the alignment that had Benintendi in the three-hole.
"I've had some conversations even going back to the last year with Bogey on maybe being further down in the lineup," said Farrell. "But to say that there has been a sit-down, this is what we're going to do on Opening Day -- no, we're not there yet."
What seems to be the overriding factor for Farrell is keeping Betts as involved as much as possible.
"This was the dilemma with David Ortiz hitting three or four a year ago or previous years. You're looking for your most complete hitter -- or your most productive hitter -- to come up in that first inning," said Farrell. "And in that case right now, that would be Mookie. There's some balance to all that."
Ian Browne