Red Sox: Three prior mistakes Alex Cora must adjust before Opening Day

Red Sox skipper Alex Cora must adjust from his previous gameplans

Spring training is finally here my friends and the Boston Red Sox have their pitchers and catchers getting loose down in Fort Myers. Soon enough the rest of the team will arrive, tomorrow in fact, and full-squad workouts can begin. This is where Alex Cora must hit the ground running and avoid the same mistakes he made after the 2018 season.

If you recall, spring training in 2019 was a celebration and camp was full of laughter and smiles. Coming off of the most dominant season in franchise history and smoking the postseason en route to another World Series title will do that. But in my opinion, that’s right where the problems began. Too much focus put on what just happened and not enough placed on what needed to still be done.

Winning championships are great but once that season is over the celebration should end as well. The calendar will inevitably flip to the next year and it’s time to start thinking about defending the crown instead of winning it. Cora is a great baseball mind and we saw that in 2018 he was playing chess while everyone else was playing checkers, but that would come back to bite him in 2019.

There was a plan for spring training that year but it was one that was written in mystery and downright confusion. In my eyes, he dropped the ball in three distinct categories that he absolutely can’t fail in again this year. Starting pitching, a closer, and his leadoff hitter were all things shrouded in mystery ahead of that season and he can’t play the cards so close to the vest again.