BOSTON — Red Sox manager Alex Cora must make difficult daily lineup decisions now that Masataka Yoshida is back from the IL.
Red hot Ceddanne Rafaela will be the odd man out Wednesday when the Red Sox go for a three-game sweep over the Rockies here at Fenway Park. Yoshida will serve as the DH in his 2025 debut. Star rookie Roman Anthony — who has started 14 games in right field and eight games at DH — will make just his second start in left field.
Left-handed hitting Jarren Duran — who has made 86 of his 89 starts in left field — is in center field against Rockies right-handed starter Antonio Senzatela (3-12, 6.57 ERA).
Meanwhile, Rafaela, a right-handed hitter, will begin the game on the bench.
“(Rafaela) isn’t playing anymore. He’s gonna be on the bench,” manager Alex Cora joked during his pregame availability Wednesday.
Joking aside, how will Cora make this work every day?
“We’ve got to mix and match,” Cora said. “It’s a good day for him (Rafaela to be off). … He’s been running around for a while. I know he’s swinging the bat well. One day on the bench isn’t going to stop him from hitting. Actually avoid him getting tired. So he’ll be ready for tomorrow. We’ll use him as a defensive replacement or pinch hitting today.
“But that’s the way we’re going to do it,” Cora added. “There’s certain days one of the lefties is not going to start against a righty, (then) help us late in games. Everybody’s on board. Everybody understands what we’re all about, what we’re trying to accomplish. And there’s no complaints.”
Cora said he’ll mix and match with Rafaela, Yoshida, Duran and Wilyer Abreu.
What about Anthony?
“He’s playing. He’ll get off days like everybody else but he’s playing most of the games,” Cora said.
Most of Yoshida’s playing time is expected to be at DH. He will play the outfield “when we need him,” Cora said.
Cora hasn’t talked with Abreu, Rafaela, Duran and Yoshida on how he will distribute playing time. He said he knows they understand without an explanation.
“It’s something we expected that was going to happen even before the season,” Cora said. “We’ll use the DH to our advantage.”
Cora said it’s important to get Yoshida going offensively.
“Get the rhythm and then from there, we’ll make decisions accordingly,” he said.
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