BOSTON --- Xander Bogaerts represented the most notable Red Sox lineup change Saturday afternoon.


The shortstop did not start one night after a 13-2 pummeling of the Orioles. Alex Verdugo and Kevin Plawecki made their Boston debuts while Jose Peraza jumped from the ninth spot in the order to fifth.


Bogaerts was bothered by hamstring tightness through parts of Summer Camp and played limited innings in both the intrasquad games and the pair of exhibitions with the Blue Jays. [...]

BOSTON --- Xander Bogaerts represented the most notable Red Sox lineup change Saturday afternoon.


The shortstop did not start one night after a 13-2 pummeling of the Orioles. Alex Verdugo and Kevin Plawecki made their Boston debuts while Jose Peraza jumped from the ninth spot in the order to fifth.


Bogaerts was bothered by hamstring tightness through parts of Summer Camp and played limited innings in both the intrasquad games and the pair of exhibitions with the Blue Jays. Tzu-Wei Lin replaced Bogaerts in the seventh inning Friday and started at shortstop on Saturday.


"He’s fine," Red Sox manager Ron Roenicke said. "I had talked to not just the trainers but our conditioning people. We have in place a plan that they send me.


"It’s about the workload each guy gets and when they think they need days. This is just coming from Bogey not playing deep in these exhibition games and not to the point where we think nine innings – whether it’s five days in a row or how many in a row – is fair to him."


Mitch Moreland also came in for Michael Chavis at first base. They’re likely to form a platoon at least in the early going, and it was Moreland who drew the start against right-hander Alex Cobb.


Plawecki was the only Red Sox catcher not to appear Friday, suggesting he would be in the lineup for this one. Christian Vazquez was the battery mate for Nathan Eovaldi and Jonathan Lucroy came off the bench in the late innings.


"I’m going to try to switch off if I can – especially this first week," Roenicke said. "We’ve got 10 in a row. I don’t want anybody playing 10 games in a row right now. It’s important to start, but it’s more important they stay healthy through these 60 games."


bkoch@providencejournal.com


(401) 277-7054


On Twitter: @BillKoch25