After top two spots, Alex Cora plans to shuffle lineup some

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- This much we know: on the vast majority of days, Andrew Benintendi will hit leadoff for the Red Sox and Mookie Betts will hit second.

After that? Expect plenty of shuffling on a daily basis.

Manager Alex Cora may want some permanence to the first two spots in his batting order, but he's more than willing to mix up the hitters who immediately follow.

"We'll do it like last year,'' said Cora. "I like when J.D. (Martinez) comes up with men on and when he hits fourth, he's either up in the first inning with men on or leads off with nobody on. It's a better at-bat for us, instead of two outs and nobody on.

"We'll talk about it. The cool thing is, there's going to be days when Mookie and J.D. are going to hit back-to-back and it's going to be a little bit tougher (for opposing pitchers). They might pitch around (Betts), but the cool things is that Mookie doesn't expand the zone and he's still going to be the same guy, regardless. Maybe J.D. might benefit from having (Betts and Martinez) back-to-back. It will be interesting.

"We're trying to structure the lineup the same way we did last year. There's going to be some matchups we can exploit and there are others we can stay away from. We believe our lineup is deep and we have options and we can go different ways.

The lone constant will be Xander Bogaerts hitting behind Martinez. When Martinez hits third, Bogaerts will hit fourth. And on the occasions when Martinez hits cleanup, Bogaerts will bat No. 5.

"That's a given,'' said Cora. "I love the fact that he puts the ball in play. We need somebody behind (Martinez) to put the ball in play, drive the ball. He hits with two strikes and in the spot where he hits behind J.D., there's going to be a lot of traffic like last year.''

When Martinez is in the cleanup spot and Bogaerts is fifth, that leaves an opening in the No. 3 hole. Cora cited either of the first baseman (righty Mitch Moreland or lefty-swinging Steve Pearce) or perhaps third baseman Rafael Devers if the Sox want another lefthanded bat option in the top third of the order.

Cora said he's not worried about egos being bruised or players not hitting in the same spot on a daily basis.

"They really don't care,'' said Cora. "They look at the lineup and they go (play). Nobody asks me about 'Why am I hitting here?' They understand that it's a deep lineup and we have a lot of good players. If you're in the lineup that day, you have a job to do and it doesn't matter where you hit.''

Part of that, Cora acknowledged, is that players instinctively recognize that, no matter where they are in the order, they're going to get RBI opportunities.

"There's going to be a lot of chances anyway here,'' he said. "You're going to have a lot of at-bats with men on (no matter where you are). It's the nature of our lineup. We get on base and there's going to be a lot of chances. I don't think they get caught up in that.''