Terry Francona revealed his Opening Day lineup Thursday, slotting in Mike Cameron to play right field in the place of J.D. Drew. The batting order against Texas lefty C.J. Wilson will be as follows: Jacoby Ellsbury CF, Dustin Pedroia 2B, Carl Crawford LF, Kevin Youkilis 3B, Adrian Gonzalez 1B, David Ortiz DH, Mike Cameron RF, Jarrod Saltalamacchia C, Marco Scutaro SS, Jon Lester P.

Francona cited throughout spring training how he might heavily weight the importance of putting additional right-handed bats in the lineup against Wilson. Cameron has only faced the Texas lefty three times, striking out twice, while Drew is 1-for-6 against Wilson. Last season, Wilson held left-handed batters to a .144 batting average and .400 OPS, allowing just five extra-base hits (all doubles).

Speaking to reporters during the team’s workout in Houston, Francona said, “This won’t be a platoon. J.D. knows that.”

Few Red Sox hitter have had any success against the Rangers Opening Day starter, with Scutaro (2-for-16), Crawford (2-for-12), Ortiz (1-for-10), and Youkilis (2-for-7) having the most experience against Wilson. Ortiz is the only current member of the Red Sox to have claimed a homer against the Texas starter.

Hopefully you enjoyed yesterday’s “Opening Day Nuggetpalooza: The Teams” enough to try today’s companion piece focusing on individual players and their Opening Day exploits.  Lots of leaders, trailers, and other oddities:

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* – Pete Rose, the all-time leader in opening day hits with 31, had 11 multiple-hit games on opening day, also the most since at least 1950, just ahead of Carl Yastrzemski (10) and Rod Carew (10).

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* – Active leaders in opening day hits (with 2011 club):

22 – Omar Vizquel, White Sox
21 – Todd Helton, Rockies
21 – Vlad Guerrero, Orioles
19 – Manny Ramirez, Rays
18 – Chipper Jones, Braves
18 – Derek Jeter, Yankees
18 – Paul Konerko, White Sox

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* – Guerrero is the all-time leader (since 1950) in opening day RBI with 19, just ahead of Jeff Kent and Frank Robinson, with 18 each. Vlad also enters 2011 sporting an 11-game hit streak on opening day, which appears to be the longest since at least 1950.

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* – Opening Day Career Batting Average Leaders (min. 30 such AB):

.484 – Ken Henderson (15-for-31)
.484 – Todd Walker (15-for-31)
.472 – Albert Pujols (17-36)
.467 – Jeff Kent (28-for-60)

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* – If you drop the at-bat minimum to 20, you’ll find that Arizona’s Xavier Nady is the active leader in opening day average at .481 (13-for-27), just ahead of Pujols’ .472.

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* – Lowest Career Opening Day Batting Average (min. 20 such AB):

.043 – Jay Johnstone (1-for-23)
.056 – Roy White (2-for-36)
.064 – Tim Foli (3-for-47)

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Welcome to the first edition of the 2011 WEEI.com Major League Baseball Power Rankings. Every Thursday throughout the season we will be bringing you an updated version of the list, which will be determined by record, ranking within each team’s division, and also which team would have the best chance at winning if participating in a best-of-seven series. Feel free to pick apart the admittedly imperfect rankings by emailing kminihane@weei.com or sending a message via Twitter to twitter.com/kirkmin. Have at it.

1. Red Sox. Why: Look, there are serious questions — with Josh Beckett and Jonathan Papelbon Nos. 1 and 1A — but the best lineup in baseball, a dramatically improved bullpen and Jon Lester/Clay Buchholz/John Lackey (don’t laugh — 3.97 ERA and 1.21 WHIP in the second half last season for Lackey) at the top of the rotation should be enough for 95 wins and the AL East crown. What to watch: If he struggles early on, how much rope will Terry Francona give Marco Scutaro before going to Jed Lowrie at shortstop?

2. Phillies. Why: While all this “best rotation ever” talk is a little overstated — Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz were all Cy Young winners (seven combined) and are going to the Hall of Fame — there is no question that Halladay/Lee/Oswalt/Hamels/Blanton has a very good chance to be the best group of starters since that Atlanta crew. What to watch: Injuries — Chase Utley, Placido Polanco and Brad Lidge are already banged up.

3. Yankees. Why: I just don’t see a big difference between the Red Sox and Yankees (though before you give any weight to that statement please note that until I spellchecked the sentence it read “I just don;t see a bog difference bewteen the Res Sox and Yankees”). I’d give the Sox an edge in lineup — but it wouldn’t stun me to see the Yankees score more runs — and a small edge in starting pitching. But I’d take Mariano Rivera and Rafael Soriano over any reliever on the Sox. This is a 90-95 win team, and I still think they make a move to grab another starter this season. What to watch: Assuming you buy Phil Hughes as a legit No. 2 starter, can the Yankees get enough from Freddy Garica/Ivan Nova/A.J. Burnett to stay in contention?

4. Giants. Why: Because after following the Barry Bonds trial for the last week, I am now at least a quasi-expert in shrunken testicles. The Giants won the World Series on pitching and pitching alone last year, and that rotation will again be good enough to win the NL West. What to watch: Let’s see if Matt Cain’s dominant postseason last year — no runs allowed in 21.1 innings — was the start of a leap to superstardom. As good as Halladay/Lee are, if I’m the Giants I’m not entirely convinced I’d trade my top two guys for the Phillies’ top two.

5. Braves. Why: No huge strength that jumps out at you, but no significant weakness, either. Solid rotation — Tim Hudson (who has a career record of 165-87, identical to some guy named Koufax), Derek Lowe, Tommy Hanson (Cy Young sleeper?), Mike Minor and Jair Jurrjens. Dan Uggla gives the lineup a boost, and Jason Heyward sure looks an awful lot like Alex Rodriguez circa 1996. What to watch: The bullpen. With Billy Wagner gone, the Braves are going with a combo of Craig Kimbrel and Jonny Venters in the ninth inning. The two guys have combined for exactly one more major league save than Montgomery Brewster.

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Red Sox pitcher Tim Wakefield joined The Big Show Tuesday, discussing the coming baseball season with Glenn Ordway and Michael Holley.

Given their offseason upgrades, the Red Sox have been considered favorites by many to head to the World Series this season. While Wakefield likes the attention the team has gotten, he understands that a lot has to happen for them to achieve their goal.

“It’s great to be touted as winning the World Series and as favorites before the season starts, but I never get too excited about that,” he said. “Everything looks good on paper, but [we won't know] until we actually get on the field and see how things jell together.”

The Red Sox added the likes of Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford and Bobby Jenks in the offseason. While Wakefield doesn’t want to get caught up in the hype, he thinks the talent level is high enough for the team to win its third championship since 2004.

“I love our chances. I really do. Talent-wise, all around the infield, all around the outfield and our pitching depth is pretty solid,” Wakefield said. “I’m very excited about who we have on our club this year, and the direction that we can take.

“I think we have all the bases covered. We’ve got speed, we’ve got defense, we’ve got strong hitting, and we’ve got deep pitching. All five of those positions that you want to be on top of are all covered with the team and the talent that we have and the players that we have.”

Wakefield said he has no problem with beginning the season in the bullpen. He noted that his primary goal is to win another title, and that he is willing to help out in any way. He did admit, however, that he does think about potentially becoming the all-time leader in wins for the Sox. With 179, he would need 13 to tie the likes of Roger Clemens and Cy Young.

“I give it a lot of thought. It’s important form a personal standpoint, but more importantly, I don’t it to take away from anything that has to do with us winning a World Series championship here again,” he said. “With that being said, I’d like to accomplish that, but first and foremost is to try to win games for the Boston Red Sox and try to win another World Series title here.

If it happens, it happens, and if not, it’s not going to make me any different of a person. … It doesn’t make a better person because I am the all time [wins] leader in Red Sox history. It’s a nice goal to attain and it’s a nice number to have next to your name, but I think the biggest thing is to win a World Series title for the Boston Red Sox.”

Start getting ready for tomorrow’s Opening Day with a big batch of Opening Day nuggets! Today’s focus is on team results in their openers over the years:

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* – Since 2000, there have been 175 stolen bases in opening games in the majors. The Red Sox have exactly none of them. They are the only team in the majors without a stolen base in an opener this century.

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* – While the Sox have not recorded a steal in an opener in the 2000′s, they’ve allowed 16 steals in that span on opening day, the most in baseball:

16 – Red Sox
12 – Padres
11 – Yankees
11 – Giants

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* – Over the last seven seasons, the New York Mets own the best opening game record (6-1), while the Astros, A’s, and Nationals/Expos have all gone 1-6 on opening day. Houston has managed a total of just eight runs in their last six openers.

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* – The Mets can thank a league-high streak of seven straight openers with nine or more hits for that gaudy record.

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* – The Yankees have allowed 9 and 10 runs in their last two openers, while the Angels have allowed a total of just seven runs in their last four opening games.

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* – Every team except Boston and Oakland has allowed two or fewer runs in at least one of their last seven openers.

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* – Oakland has been shut out three times in their last six opening games.

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* – The Cubs have averaged 7.4 runs per opening game in the last seven seasons, tops in the majors:

7.4 – Cubs
7.3 – Yankees
6.0 – Rockies

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* – Only five teams (Rays, Mets, Astros, Tigers, Indians) have avoided allowing any unearned runs in their last seven openers, while the Reds have allowed 11 of them.

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* – The Yankees have homered in each of their last 12 opening games, the longest active streak in the majors. Boston’s opening day opponent, Texas, holds the second longest such streak, having homered in nine consecutive openers.

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The Red Sox acquired catcher Mike McKenry from Colorado on Tuesday for righthanded reliever Daniel Turpen. McKenry, 26, hit .265 and caught 94 games at Triple-A Colorado Springs last year, and appeared in six games with the Rockies at the end of last season. Turpen, 24, an eighth-round pick of San Francisco in 2007, was originally acquired last year when Boston sent righty reliever Ramon Ramirez to the Giants. He was selected by the Yankees in the Rule V Draft during the winter, but was later returned to the Red Sox. He split time between the Giants’ and Red Sox’ organizations in 2010, finishing with a combined 4.50 ERA in 69 relief innings in Double-A.

FORT MYERS, Fla. — Red Sox first baseman Adrian Gonzalez hit his second homer of the spring (and second in three games), a towering solo shot to left, in the final game of Grapefruit League play, as the Sox and Rays played to a 1-1 nine-inning tie Tuesday. After the contest, Gonzalez — who finished the spring with a .308 average in 10 games spanning 26 at-bats — said that the spring had gone as well as he could have hoped as he recovered from the surgery to repair his right shoulder labrum.

“I think so,” Gonzalez said when asked if his spring went perfectly according to blueprint. “Coming here, I knew that if everything came out as planned I would be ready for Opening Day. Then I came here and I was ready earlier than I’d hoped, I got more at-bats than I thought I was going to get, and I feel really good going into the season.”

Gonzalez appeared to build progressively into comfort at the plate. He got enough at-bats that he was able build strength to the point where he could resue using his normal bat, and he also saw enough pitches that he feels that, in leaving Fort Myers, his timing is where it needs to be for the regular season.

“[Timing] feels good. I think after that minor league game, things started to click and I started to feel more comfortable at the plate,” he added, referring to a game against Sox minor leaguers last week in which Gonzalez got six at-bats against Sox pitchers.

Now, after an offseason of anticipation following his trade to the Red Sox in December, Gonzalez said he is eager for the start of the regular season schedule.

“Definitely, it’s been on my mind for a couple of days. It’s getting closer every day, which is awesome,” Gonzalez said. “Being able to get out of here is one of those final steps for knowing that you’re real close.”