Boston Red Sox Opening Day: Game Time, Starter ... Avocado Fries?

BOSTON, MA — The Red Sox are set to begin the 2023 season against a divisional opponent in the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday.

This year's squad is ripe with storylines. What will newcomer Masataka Yoshida look like, especially coming off a stellar showing in the World Baseball Classic? Will the team, again, regret letting a star get away in Xander Bogaerts? Will Chris Sale stay healthy?

Those questions won't be answered until much later in the 162-game season, but, until then, here's what to know ahead of opening day.

Start Time, How To Watch

First pitch is set for Thursday at 2:10 p.m. The game will be broadcast on MLB.TV and also NESN.

Who's Pitching

Despite a health spring training, Chris Sale won't be the opening day starter. That will instead be Corey Kluber, the big right-hander who once was a perennial Cy Young Award contender, and a past winner.

He's no longer that guy, but he's still a capable starter. Kluber will look to get the win against Baltimore's Kyle Gibson.

Opening Day Roster

To preface this, the Red Sox haven't yet officially unveiled their opening day lineup. However, multiple reporters stated that the lineup they rolled out in Tuesday's final spring training game is likely to be similar to what fans will see on Thursday.

That lineup looked like this:

• RF Alex Verdugo
• 3B Rafael Devers
• DH Justin Turner
• LF Masataka Yoshida
• CF Adam Duvall
• 1B Triston Casas
• 2B Christian Arroyo
• C Reese McGuire
• SS Kike Hernandez

Injuries

The man who was hypothetically supposed to replace the production of Bogaerts in 2023, Trevor Story, is the most notable injury for the Sox coming into the year. A right elbow injury will force him to miss at least half of the season.

The Red Sox acquired Aldeberto Mondesi from the Kansas City Royals this offseason as another, possibly high-potential, option up the middle. He will also miss the start of the year as he continues to recover from a torn ACL.

Garrett Whitlock, Brayan Bello and James Paxton, three starting pitchers, will also begin the year on the injured list, but all have varying outlooks of when they may return.

New Additions To Fenway Menu

A CBS Boston report discovered that there will be a few new options for those looking to balance out their beer consumption at Fenway this year.

Concessions provider Aramark unveiled the new menu additions this week, which included avocado fries with a side of green goddess dressing for dipping.

Aramark also leaned into the regional specialties with a New England Maple Bacon Burger with Vermont cheddar cheese, a crab cake sandwich and — a non-regional item — a new Grande Nacho topped with beef and guacamole.

(Click https://www.cbsnews.com/boston... for a CBS News video report.)