Chad Tracy decides the lineup, and other Red Sox thoughts

This story originally appeared in the Globe’s Sunday Baseball Notes. Read the rest here.

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Pardon my cynicism, but it was refreshing — and a bit surprising — to hear interim Red Sox manager Chad Tracy say last week that he decides the lineup, not the front office.

“The final pen to paper is my call,” he said.

Tracy said he generally sits with bench coach José David Flores to come up with the lineup.

“I get ideas and hear other people’s thoughts about where will be a good day [to use] this guy or that guy,” he said. “That will always be the case. I have really good people around me that I trust to cover your blind spots.”

It can’t be easy. The Sox went into the weekend with the worst offense in the American League, a product of their lack of power and poor seasons from, among others, Caleb Durbin, Jarren Duran, Carlos Narváez, and Trevor Story.

Tracy had seven-plus years of experience managing in the minors before he was promoted. He said the level of information in the major leagues is far deeper, and there’s more video to use when making decisions.

“Similar information but a much wider [range] of what is actually available to you,” he said.

Minor league lineups are focused on development, not necessarily winning games.

“In the minor leagues, the construction of a lineup is who’s on the 40-man [roster] that’s immediately going to help us? Who are the top prospects that we need to see get in the batter’s box a lot?

“A guy hitting first vs. sixth could be the difference of 100 plate appearances in a year. All of that stuff is considered for getting guys the reps they need; making sure that 40-man guys who are going to come up the next day are ready to go.”

A few other observations on the Red Sox:

▪ Speaking of the lineup, how long do the Sox keep Duran batting leadoff? He has a .304 on-base percentage batting first over the last two seasons, with 100 more strikeouts (142) than walks (42).

That’s a 127-game sample size, too.

▪ Wilyer Abreu is off to a start that could merit down-ballot MVP votes.

The 27-year-old right fielder has a team-best .860 OPS and leads all American League outfielders with 11 defensive runs saved. Only Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong (13) has more.

Abreu won his second Gold Glove last season and has been even better this year.

“It’s hard to believe because he was so good before,” Tracy said. “Balls get hit, and it looks like he’s already taken four steps by the time you glance at him.

“He’s moving before the ball even comes off the bat. He’s just become very, very good.”

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▪ You may have noticed Sox players on second base seeming to signal the batter what pitch is coming. With PitchCom, there are no signs to steal, but some pitchers give it away by how they waggle their gloves or if they show their grip too early.

That said, the Sox are mostly pretending, according to several opposing teams.

“Some of it’s real, and some of it’s just to make you think they know something,” Mattingly said. “We saw a lot of the same [signals] on different pitches, so it tells you they didn’t really have anything.”

▪ If the Sox wanted to fire Jason Varitek as game planning and run prevention coach, fine. That’s their right. Varitek was traded as a prospect and became a part-time player at the end of his playing career. He understands how the game works.

But the Sox claimed, “he has been reassigned to a new role within the organization.” Was that supposed to mollify the fans who have fond memories of Varitek from his playing days?

That wasn’t true. Like manager Alex Cora and the rest of the coaches who were fired, Varitek is a free agent and can join another team if he chooses.

In a NESN appearance, chief baseball officer Craig Breslow said Varitek has an “open invitation to stay in the organization as long as he wants.”

It would be out of character for Varitek to take some phony job and pretend all is well. If he wants to stay in baseball, there are teams that would value what he has to offer.

▪ Baseball America’s latest top prospect list has lefthander Payton Tolle eighth, with Double-A shortstop Franklin Arias soaring from 46th to 16th. Arias had a 1.072 OPS through his first 29 games this season.

(Yes, Tolle is still considered a prospect, but won’t be much longer.)

Two righthanders drafted last season — Anthony Eyanson (No. 48) and Kyson Witherspoon (73) — also made the list.

Three New England players are in the Top 100. Marlins Triple-A lefthander Thomas White (Rowley, Phillips Andover) is 11th. Dodgers High-A outfielder Mike Sirota (Northeastern) is 40th, and Cardinals Triple-A outfielder Joshua Baez (Boston, Dexter Southfield) is 57th.

Sirota was considered a potential first-round pick going into his junior season with the Huskies, but fell to the Reds in the third round of the 2024 draft. The Dodgers acquired him in a trade for infielder Gavin Lux prior to the 2025 season. He has since posted a 1.091 OPS in 89 games for the Dodgers.

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