Tampa Bay Rays vs Boston Red Sox Starting Lineup — Friday, Jul 17, 2026

Tampa Bay brings several hitters with at least some success against Jake Bennett. Nick Fortes has the best line in the group at .750 with a 2.000 OPS in 4 AB, while Taylor Walls is 1-for-2 with a 1.000 OPS and Junior Caminero is batting .400 with a .900 OPS in 5 AB. Yandy Díaz has also handled Bennett well, hitting .400 with a .733 OPS in 5 AB, while Ben Williamson is at .250 with a .500 OPS in 4 AB. Jonathan Aranda is batting .167 with a .334 OPS in 6 AB, Ryan Vilade is at .200 with a .367 OPS in 5 AB, and Jonny DeLuca is hitless in 1 AB with a .500 OPS. Chandler Simpson has no MLB history vs that pitcher.

Boston has much less established success against Griffin Jax, though there are a couple of bright spots. Ceddanne Rafaela is batting .500 with a 1.000 OPS in 2 AB, and Caleb Durbin is 1-for-1 with a 2.000 OPS. The rest of the known history is mostly quiet: Wilyer Abreu is hitless in 2 AB with a .000 OPS, Jarren Duran is hitless in 2 AB with a .000 OPS, and Masataka Yoshida, Romy Gonzalez, and Carlos Narváez are each hitless in 1 AB, with Yoshida carrying a .500 OPS and Gonzalez and Narváez both at .000 OPS. Anthony Seigler and Tsung-Che Cheng have no MLB history vs that pitcher.

The Rays clearly have more familiar hitters and more productive prior results against the opposing starter. Boston’s sample against Jax is smaller and much thinner beyond Rafaela and Durbin.