NEW YORK – Red Sox top outfield prospect Jhostynxon Garcia will bat fifth and start in center field in his MLB debut Friday night at Yankee Stadium, while Brayan Bello and Max Fried square off on the pitcher’s mound.
The Red Sox called up Garcia early Thursday afternoon to replace right-fielder and ’24 Gold Glove defender Wilyer Abreu, whom they placed on the 10-day injured list with a right calf strain (retroactive to Aug. 18).
To counter the lefty Fried – who chose the Yankees over the Red Sox in free agency last December – manager Alex Cora has stacked his lineup as much as the current roster allows. Romy Gonzalez is leading off, and Cora has usual leadoff man Roman Anthony, the hero Thursday night, batting third.
Rob Refsnyder’s absence – he landed on the 10-day IL Monday with a mild oblique strain – will be felt, though. The veteran utility-man is slashing .287/.384/.521 against lefties this year, and .314/.383/.543 against southpaw starters, specifically. Over six games against the Yankees back in June, he went 5 for 15 (.333) with a pair of doubles, four runs and three walks.
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Red Sox lineup
Romy Gonzalez 1B
Alex Bregman 3B
Roman Anthony RF
Trevor Story SS
Jhostynxon Garcia CF
Jarren Duran LF
Ceddanne Rafaela 2B
Nate Eaton DH
Connor Wong C
Yankees lineup
Trent Grisham CF
Ben Rice 1B
Aaron Judge DH
Cody Bellinger RF
Jazz Chisholm Jr. 2B
Jasson Domínguez LF
Anthony Volpe SS
Ryan McMahon 3B
Austin Wells C
Probable pitchers
LHP Max Fried vs. RHP Brayan Bello
How to watch Red Sox vs. Yankees
How to watch Red Sox vs. Yankees
When: 7:05 p.m. ET, Yankee Stadium
Watch: Red Sox – NESN, Yankees – Amazon Prime Video, National – MLBN (out-of-market only)
Listen: Red Sox – WEEI 93.7, WCCM 1490 AM (SP), WESX 1230 AM (SP); Yankees – WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WADO 1280
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