The 2018 Boston Red Sox lineup should look like this

7. 2B Eduardo Nunez

Dustin Pedroia will be on the shelf to begin the 2018 season, so Boston should hold onto Eduardo Nunez. In 38 games with the Red Sox last season, he hit .321 with 27 RBI. He was incredible at the plate down the stretch, and those numbers aren’t likely to be duplicated, but he’s proven that he can play in Boston. That should go a long way towards him playing in Fenway Park next season.

Nunez is certainly going to hold down the fort defensively, but if he can hit near .290 and add 50-60 RBI for this Boston Red Sox team as the #7 hitter, this team will be unstoppable. It would force an awkward conversation when Pedroia does return, likely in May or June. If Nunez is playing great baseball, the Red Sox may look into moving him to shortstop and shopping Xander Bogaerts elsewhere. That’s not the ideal scenario, as Boston would love to hold onto Bogey, but if the mentality is to win right now, the team would have some tough decisions to make.