Alex Cora was brought in for a fresh managerial perspective, but his Opening Day showing represented more of the same.
It’s the bottom of the eighth inning and the Boston Red Sox are up 4-0. Everything is clicking; the Tampa Bay Rays only have one hit with six outs to go.
Joe Kelly takes the hill. Walk, uh oh. Strikeout, phew. Double, walk, walk. 4-1 Red Sox with the bases loaded, and Kelly exits in favor of Carson Smith.
This is where Craig Kimbrel has to start warming up. Instead, he sits, and five more runs cross the plate. The Red Sox lose, 6-4.
"“I think there’s going to be certain situations that you’re going to see [Kimbrel] probably earlier than what people expect,” Alex Cora said during the Winter Meetings."
Everything Cora said this offseason pointed towards being a different kind of manager than John Farrell – one who’s willing to be a little bit bolder, to take a couple more risks. For Kimbrel specifically, he not-so-subtly hinted at using him in the eighth inning when the game is on the line.
Tonight, the game was on the line in the eighth inning. With one out and the winning run at the plate, Kimbrel was sitting down in the bullpen seats. He wasn’t even warming up.
"“I’m not going to put him in that spot right now,” Cora told reporters after the game. “We feel he’s ready, but I don’t think it’s fair for him to come in in a situation and it’s not a clean inning. It’s something that we map it out, we talk about it and we stick to it.”"
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Hello, John Farrell, is that you? It sure sounds like you. All of a sudden, it’s not fair to use Kimbrel outside of his ironclad role in the ninth inning. Instead, the Red Sox lost a very, very winnable game with their best pitcher not having made an appearance.
The argument for Kimbrel coming in practically makes itself. First of all, Cora bringing up workload concerns on Opening Day is a little absurd. Boston has off-days on April 4 and 6. With two games against the Marlins before then, it’s unlikely that Kimbrel would be pitching day-in, day-out over the next week anyway.
Secondly, baseball has been trending more and more towards using its best relievers in the most high leverage spot in the game, no matter when that takes place. And that logic makes sense: the best pitcher can make the most impact in the most crucial spots. Look to Cleveland where Andrew Miller is the multi-inning fireman. Look to Arizona where Brad Boxberger got the closer job over superior reliever Archie Bradley.
None of this is to say that Kimbrel shouldn’t be the closer. He’s comfortable and excels in that role. But a little flexibility would go a long way toward maximizing what the nastiest reliever in baseball can bring to the table. If his leash was extended to five outs, or even four outs instead of three outs, we could easily be looking at a 1-0 record right now.
The bases are loaded and the Red Sox need an out. The man who struck out 126 batters in 69 innings last year, who allowed just 4.3 hits per nine, is watching the collapse unfold.
Next: Red Sox: Nunez picks up where he left off
Alex Cora wasn’t brought in to be another John Farrell. He is the ultimate change candidate, a young and energetic leader to bring some much-needed life to a team that ran on fumes. He missed his chance tonight. The good news is he’ll have at least 161 other chances before all is said and done.