When the 2009 season opened, this is how the Boston Red Sox lineup looked:
CF - Jacoby Ellsbury
2B - Dustin Pedroia
DH - David Ortiz
1B - Kevin Youkilis
RF - JD Drew
LF - Jason Bay
3B - Mike Lowell
SS - Jed Lowrie
C - Jason Varitek
SP - Josh Beckett
P - Jon Lester
P - Daisuke Matsuzaka
P - Tim Wakefield
P - Brad Penny
Present Day Red Sox
120 games later, the Boston Red Sox have had plenty of changes made to the order, rotate players consistently and have many options on how to come off the bench. Here's what last night looked like, courtesy of Fenway West:
CF - Jacoby Ellsbury
2B - Dustin Pedroia
C - Victor Martinez
1B - Kevin Youkilis
LF - Jason Bay
DH - David Ortiz
3B - Mike Lowell
RF - JD Drew
SS - Alex Gonzalez
Our starting rotation has also changed a bit:
Josh Beckett
Clay Buchholz
Jon Lester
Brad Penny
Junichi Tazawa
I've made it bold for anyone who is in the same spot today as they have been since the season began.
The Way I'd Like To See It
With all the trades, injuries and games played, this is the lineup I'd like to send out for Boston going into the final stretch:
CF - Jacoby Ellsbury
3B - Mike Lowell
1B - Kevin Youkilis
C - Victor Martinez
DH - David Ortiz
LF - Jason Bay
2B - Dustin Pedroia
SS - Nick Green
RF - JD Drew or Josh Reddick (based on who's streaking that week)
The pitching rotation:
Josh Beckett
Jon Lester
Clay Buchholz
Junichi Tazawa
Tim Wakefield*
Obviously I'm being optimistic that Timmy will be back after his rehab start today. But how good does that line up look knowing that we've also got talented players on the bench like Varitek, Kotchman and Drew/Reddick depending on who starts that day. I'm not a manager for a reason, but if it looked like that on my XBOX, I'd be damn near unstoppable.
Thanks to Wallyg for the picture of Fenway Park.
Thanks to Keith Allison for the photo of Victor Martinez as well as the photo of David Ortiz and Kevin Youkilis.
