Head to Head: The Lineups (Infield)
| Position | Red Sox | Proj. WAR | My WAR | Pos. Rank | Position | Yankees | Proj. WAR | My WAR | Pos. Rank |
| C | Christian Vazquez | 1.3 | 2.2 | 21 | C | Gary Sanchez | 3.8 | 3.8 | 2 |
| 1B | Hanley Ramirez | 0.7 | 1.2 | 22 | 1B | Greg Bird | 1.5 | 0.4 | 16 |
| 2B | Dustin Pedroia | 2.2 | 2.0 | 5 | 2B | Tyler Wade | 0.2 | 2.3 | 18 |
| SS | Xander Bogaerts | 3.4 | 3.8 | 8 | SS | Didi Gregorius | 2.6 | 2.1 | 10 |
| 3B | Rafael Devers | 2.3 | 4.8 | 13 | 3B | Brandon Drury | 0.8 | 1.8 | 22 |
| LF | Andrew Benintendi | 2.8 | 4.1 | 6 | LF | Brett Gardner | 1.8 | 2.4 | 1 |
| CF | Jackie Bradley Jr. | 2.9 | 2.7 | 6 | CF | Aaron Hicks | 2.0 | 2.2 | 13 |
| RF | Mookie Betts | 5.8 | 6.9 | 1 | RF | Aaron Judge | 3.8 | 4.8 | 2 |
| DH | J.D. Martinez | 2.4 | 3.2 | 2 | DH | Giancarlo Stanton | 5.7 | 5.5 | 1 |
| Totals | 23.8 | 30.9 | 22.2 | 25.3 |
I saved this for last because it is the most interesting, at least to me. Steamer has the Red Sox lineup as about a win more productive than New York’s. Before pulling this table together, I’d have assumed it would go the other way. Then I looked at the Red Sox batters’ numbers and concluded that they were too pessimistic.
Yes, that’s right. I said that Steamer projecting Boston’s lineup to be better was too pessimistic for the Sox.
At catcher, they have it right. I buy into Christian Vazquez’s new offensive output, so I think his WAR estimate was too low, but it doesn’t make a lot of difference against a slugger like Gary Sanchez. That bat is too much for a glove-first catcher to overcome.
First base would have been more interesting before the Greg Bird injury. He’s only supposed to miss 6-8 weeks, but given his history, I don’t think you can count on much from him this year. On the other side of the aisle, it’s Hanley Ramirez who, while hopefully healthy, also rarely plays a full season without getting banged up or worse. Even still, Hanley is more likely actually to be on the field.
Our second base battle is a bit harder to predict. Dustin Pedroia is coming off of a major knee surgery and, if healthy, should be a productive player. But how much of the lateral movement that made him a plus defender will remain? How much power will he get back and how long will it take for him to get his lower half back under him as he is swinging? Too many questions to pick him against Tyler Wade who has the benefit of youth supporting his excellent defensive skills.
Here’s where it starts getting fun for Red Sox fans. Xander Bogaerts is coming off of a rough 2017 season where his power was wrecked by a wrist injury. Fully healthy, expect a return to 2016 levels. Of course, his 2016 home run rate was likely a bit lucky, so I’m regressing his WAR total a bit to compensate. It’s still well more than Didi Gregorious is likely to amass, so the Red Sox chalk up a significant advantage here.
Third base is an area where I doubt many would pick the Yankees, but I still expect some disagreement on my projection for Rafael Devers. At just 21 years old, being this bullish on him may prove to be foolish, but I love everything I see from him at the plate. He shows poise, excellent barrelling skills, the ability to make adjustments mid-at-bat and can hit for power to all fields. Brandon Drury is a fine plug for the hole the Yankees had, but this one won’t be close.