For the third straight game, the Red Sox are without Brock Holt in the starting lineup:

Lineup BOSTON RED SOX TAMPA BAY RAYS Mookie Betts, RF TBA Dustin Pedroia, 2B Xander Bogaerts, SS David Ortiz, DH Hanley Ramirez, 1B Travis Shaw, 3B Chris Young, LF Ryan Hanigan, C Jackie Bradley Jr., CF Starting Pitcher -- Joe Kelly Starting Pitcher -- Drew Smyly

Let's flash back a couple of days here. The Red Sox are coming up against a hard-throwing righty, exactly the sort of player who Chris Young is completely helpless against. Their next two opponents: J.A. Happ and Drew Smyly. Lefty-lefty.

Sounds like a great time to not start Chris Young. Instead, Young started on Sunday, was wrecked as expected, and now Brock Holt is going to be sitting for his third straight game. Good thing, too. It's not like he has a .939 OPS or anything.

Farrell's thinking--that Young needed at bats so he'd be up-to-speed before the sort of starts he was actually here for--is full of holes to boot:

1) He needs at bats vs. RHP to get ready for LHP?

2) Even if you accept that at bats are at bats, why, then, did Farrell say that he didn't pinch hit for him late on Sunday because he wanted him to have an at-bat against a less overpowering pitcher than Sanchez. Either the Sanchez at bats are worthwhile preparation or they're not. Which one is it?

3) If Chris Young needs to get warm in order to start, then what about Brock God damned Holt? This guy is ostensibly your starter, and he's going to have gone at least 2-and-a-half games without stepping into the batter's box. Or more if he doesn't get into this game in the late innings. Nice and cold for Chris Archer on Wednesday.

It was never in question that Young would be starting today. He should be starting today. The problem is that by not finding a start for Holt in here, Farrell's basically contradicting his own reasoning for starting Young. There's serious questions about Farrell's thought process, and it's not an isolated incident. He can't seem to go a single day without making the sort of decision that opens him up to this sort of questioning. No manager is perfect, but Farrell's just too damn consistent with his missteps.

First pitch is at 7:10 p.m. ET with broadcasts on NESN and WEEI.