Why is Xander Bogaerts projected to hit sixth?  Is John Farrell crazy?  The answers,  in order, are I don’t know and I hope not.

Yes, Xander Bogaerts hit third in the lineup yesterday against the Orioles.  That was also in a lineup not including Betts and Benintendi.  And it  was only one game.

Right now, it looks like John Farrell will start the season with a 2-6 of Betts, Benintendi, Ramirez, Moreland, and Bogaerts.  Much of this is the alternating righty-lefty combo.  I’m sure some of this is due to Bogaerts end of 2016 slump.  But is Mitch Moreland is the answer?  This is a guy who has never scored more than 60 runs and never had an OBP higher than .330 in the five seasons of 350+ plate appearances.

Meanwhile, Xander Bogaerts OBP the last two seasons has been .355 and .356 respectively.  His run totals the last three years have skyrocketed from 60 to 114.  Obviously, Bogaerts spent a lot of time at the top of the order last year, giving him more opportunities to get on base and score.  But he also scores runs because he will get on base an additional 4 to 5% more than Moreland.

Moreland’s slugging percentage is about 30 points higher, but the 2016 home runs totals are nearly identical.  OPS and OPS+ are also nearly identical.  Is this enough to warrant Xander Bogaerts hitting sixth?

No it’s not.  It’s arguable that Bogaerts should bat second, third, or fourth.  But that’s for another blog post.  Right now, batting Bogaerts in front of Moreland is a no-brainer.

The good news is we’re less than a week away from seeing this grand experiment begin.