Red Sox Lineup vs Yankees: Roman Anthony, Masataka Yoshida Out

The Boston Red Sox have an interesting lineup ready for Wednesday's tilt, to say the least.

Apr 15, 2026; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Boston Red Sox right fielder Roman Anthony (left) and center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela return to the dugout after scoring against the Minnesota Twins in the sixth inning on a double by shortstop Trevor Story (not pictured) at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images | Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images

The Boston Red Sox will try to get back in the win column on Wednesday night in a very difficult matchup against the New York Yankees and ace Max Fried.

There are few starters in Major League Baseball more dominant than Fried right now. The 32-year-old is entering the showdown sporting a 2.97 ERA across five starts and a league-leading 33 1/3 innings pitched. Fried is on a heater and has a 23-to-8 strikeout-to-walk ratio on the season so far entering the contest.

Fried's a tough matchup on paper for Boston. He's not only one of the most dominant overall hurlers in baseball, but he's also left-handed and Boston, of course, is lefty-heavy. On Wednesday afternoon, Boston unveiled a new-look lineup for the contest with Ceddanne Rafaela at the top in place of Roman Anthony, who is sitting out to begin Wednesday's contest.

Boston Unveiled A Surprising Lineup

Apr 18, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Red Sox left fielder Roman Anthony (19) hits a single during the sixth inning against the Detroit Tigers at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images | Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images

Typically, you see four of Boston's five outfielders in the mix on a given day. Boston is only rolling with three in the starting lineup on Wednesday in Rafaela, Jarren Duran and Wilyer Abreu. Anthony and Masataka Yoshida are both on the bench with Andruw Monasterio starting as the team's designated hitter. Isiah Kiner-Falefa is set to start in place of Marcelo Mayer at second base to get another righty in the mix. Boston is throwing as many righties as possible at Fried with just two lefties in the starting lineup in Duran and Abreu.

Here's the full starting lineup:

1. Ceddanne Rafaela, CF
2. Willson Contreras, 1B
3. Wilyer Abreu, RF (L)
4. Trevor Story, SS
5. Andruw Monasterio, DH
6. Jarren Duran, LF (L)
7. Caleb Durbin, 3B
8. Connor Wong, C
9. Isiah Kiner-Falefa, 2B

P. Ranger Suárez

Wednesday at Fenway. pic.twitter.com/kkVsStkfXK

— Red Sox (@RedSox) April 22, 2026

Lining up as many righties as possible against Fried certainly is good, but for a team that lacks offense like the Red Sox, not having Yoshida, who is slashing .289/.438/.368, and Anthony both not in the lineup is a bit shocking.

Analytically, more righties should equal more success. But, what about six righties and either Anthony or Yoshida as DH? Is seven righties that much better? That's the question. Boston clearly sees the seven righties in the lineup as a positive. Hopefully, that does become the case. It's an interesting lineup, to say the least. If Boston's offense struggles again on Wednesday night, there certainly will be comments after the game. All in all, something needs to break in Boston's favor. Hopefully, this helps.