Red Sox: Three prior mistakes Alex Cora must adjust before Opening Day
Red Sox Mistake #1: Starting Pitching
At the beginning of spring, the skipper gave his pitchers a delay for them to start workouts and once they did begin, he didn’t really ramp up the intensity to allow them to recover from 2018. That sounds all well and good but as we saw throughout 2019, that lack of a true training camp that year caused several of the pitchers to rack up injury time, have sluggish and downright miserable starts, and overall look poor compared to their previous campaigns.
The starters just didn’t have the stamina built up due to the extended layoff and couldn’t go deep into games for much of the season. Then we’d see the offense and bullpen have to carry the load far too early in games, it was miserable. As I mentioned above, injuries would also be an issue as we’d see everything from blisters, to calves, to shoulders and elbows all flare up for the starters.
I will give Alex credit in this department as he’s already got his arms throwing and putting in the work just days into spring training. I think if he’s learned from any of his previous mistakes it’ll be this one long before any others. He saw how bad his pitching was in 2019 and the even worse efforts in 2020, he knows his hurlers need to be firing on all cylinders by Opening Day and I doubt he’ll waste the time.
Red Sox Mistake #2: Closer by Committee
Another thing that made no sense from 2019 was his lack of a desire to name an everyday closer. It got to the point where he was almost adamant that he wouldn’t name one, which is a big-time head-scratcher.
The team had lost out on Craig Kimbrell who decided to sit out a chunk of the year until he received a deal he liked and had not signed a replacement. There were arms in the bullpen that could’ve competed for the job but instead, Cora chose a closer by committee, something Red Sox Nation is all too familiar with.
AC has already said there would be a set closer for the 2021 season but hasn’t quite narrowed down the names just yet. Familiar faces will be in contention as Matt Barnes and Ryan Brasier will likely duke it out alongside newcomers Hirokazu Sawamura and Adam Ottavino. It’s a step in the right direction that he’s saying there will be a set guy to come in to close out games, as it’s been a major issue for the Red Sox the last two seasons.
I’m not the biggest fan of having such a wide net cast for who may earn the job but I also understand that this bullpen has seen some shakeups the last few years. With that said, having a smaller list of a few names he specifically wants vying for the job would build far more confidence in fans than just saying there will be a competition for the spot.
It’s great that he wants guys to compete but I want to see the top three going for it, not everyone in the bullpen. This doesn’t need to be a squad-wide competition, get your bullpen aces in there and let them fight it out.
Red Sox Mistake #3: The Leadoff Man
Finally, one of if not the most peculiar things that Cora did that spring training was shuffling around his lineup. Well, he didn’t really shuffle the lineup more so as he swapped Andrew Benintendi and Mookie Betts in the batting order. Doesn’t sound like it’d be that big of a deal right? Well, it was, and the Boston offense suffered greatly for it.
Betts was the leadoff man for that incredible run in 2018 and Benny would often by behind him in the order with the intent of getting Mookie around the base paths. It was a system that worked like a finely oiled machine, Mookie would get on and Benintendi would get him closer to scoring. Wash, Rinse, Repeat. However, for some unknown reason, and I’m sure there is one but in no way will it be good enough, AC switched the two.
This would cause both guys to have terrible starts to the season and neither would recover to the points they saw in the previous year. Benny just couldn’t get the grasp of being the leadoff guy and Mookie’s game didn’t translate into being the #2.
The experiment would fail and eventually, we’d see the positional return from 2018 but it was too late by then and the offense was sunk. It wasn’t just the fact that Cora swapped the two but it was that he wouldn’t make the decision until late and would often tinker and experiment.
We’ve already heard from the skipper that he will have a concrete leadoff hitter just as we have in relation to the closer. But again, we have no idea who it is and I don’t like that. Despite not being with the team in 2020 we know that AC didn’t miss a pitch and knows exactly what this team is. He knows who he has and who can excel at the position and who can’t.
Why again be mysterious with who it may be? Give a name or two that you feel can be the go-to for the job and go from there, that’s all.
The Red Sox, Alex Cora, and Spring Training
This spring is going to be a massive test for the dynamic manager as he has a lot to prove to not just his bosses but to Red Sox Nation. He has to prove that 2018 wasn’t a first-year fluke and that he truly is as good as we think and hope he is. Cora must prove that he can do this without any weird dark clouds hovering over the team as had followed him in 2017 and 2018. It may sound a bit hyperbolic but this spring and overall season may be the biggest of his career.
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In his last spring training, it felt like he was trying to do what was right for his team but he may have sacrificed the team to do so if that makes sense. It’s a bit relieving that he’s already spoken out about these past mistakes and seems to be trying to correct them ahead of 2021.
Chaim Bloom and the Red Sox have built a team that should be much better than the one we saw in 2020, but will they contend? If you listened to anything that the owners have said over the last six months you’d surely think so, but everyone else got better too. Bloom and his team have done a wonderful job of flipping players they don’t want for strong prospects while signing good players at reasonable salaries. They’re building for the future and this season has a good possibility of being the first chapter of that story.
Next. E-Rod optimistic about 2021 return. dark
I doubt they’ll finish in the bottom of the barrel again as that’d take a serious stumble out of the gate, but anything can happen. When all is said and done how this season plays out will all stem from how things are being run down in Fort Myers. If Cora has his guys ready and rocking for Opening Day then we very well could have a contender on our hands, and the odds say the playoffs aren’t a longshot. Everything builds from the foundation that is being laid at JetBlue Park and if it’s a good one, I think October baseball could be back in Boston in 2021.