Alex Cora’s observations on the 2020 Red Sox

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BOSTON – After her 3-year-old twins fell asleep, Alex Cora had plenty of free time during the summer of 2020. And as anyone who has ever known him would suspect, Cora spent much of that time. free at night. watch baseball.

BOSTON – After her 3-year-old twins fell asleep, Alex Cora had plenty of free time during the summer of 2020.

And as anyone who ever knew her would suspect, Cora spent much of that free time at night watching baseball.

• Cora is presented as manager of the Red Sox

That included the Red Sox, a team he will once again lead in 2021. Here are some observations he made during a one-season suspension.

The Red Sox must play faster
“I still believe you have to play fast. Take a look at the league teams. The Rays, Dodgers, Padres, for their power they hit the ball out of the ballpark, but they still lead the bases well and are more defensive teams, ”said Cora. “I wanted to watch the Red Sox, they were a little late. That’s what I meant by catching up. We did a good job in 2018 with that.

“I think for the way the game is going, in terms of stolen bases and all that, it helps to score early on. There is value in going from first to third, there is value in defense and that’s something I’m going to preach.

Devers must rebound on defense
In Cora’s first stint as manager, the player he seemed to talk about the most was Rafael Devers. Cora fully enjoyed being on the ground floor of the development of such a young and talented player. So, yes, Cora has noticed how much Devers has gone down in defense in 2020 and he plans to help the third baseman with that issue.

“We’re going to talk a lot about positioning with him. And I think we put him in a good position two years ago, he was very consistent, ”Cora said. “I don’t know about his routine, what happened this year, if it was the same. I’m going to have this conversation with him and [infield instructor] Carlos [Febles], and in fact I’m going to talk to [former bench coach and manager] Ron [Roenicke] about it and we’re going to talk to our info service to see how they feel about where he was or what he did wrong.

“I think his arm is playing on third base. He’s got a good footwork, it’s just a matter of seeing if there’s anything we can do in terms of position that can put him in a better position. But as you know, he’s always been one of my main projects during the offseason and that won’t change this year.

JD will be back
Cora barely recognized JD Martinez while watching the games on TV. The DH was an elite slugger in 2018-19 before regressing with a .680 OPS and -0.9 WAR, per Baseball-Reference, in ’20. So, what happened?

“Lots of bad decisions on the plate. It has grown. It has grown. I read it. I read on the videos. I do not know. I think with his work ethic and what he does on a day-to-day basis, he was just physically poorly placed to attack the pitches, ”Cora said. “The recognition of the pitch was not there. It wasn’t JD we talked about a few days ago. He is very excited that I am coming back. I have a few things for him. I have to talk to [hitting coach] Timmy [Hyers], too much [assistant hitting coach] Pete [Fatse], on him and the rest of the hitters. I’m pretty sure he’s going to have a better season, of course, next year than this year. It’s not difficult. I think he will come back.

A new weapon with Verdugo
While Cora will handle the Red Sox without Mookie Betts this time around, he has Alex Verdugo, the main trade compensation the Red Sox have achieved in this blockbuster with the Dodgers.

“Alex is a good player. I saw him with the Dodgers the year before, a guy who brings a lot of energy to the equation on a daily basis. A good hitter. He can hit left-handed people, he can hit right-handed people. I think he’s settled into the lineup, ”Cora said. “Defensively he did a remarkable job for the team, and for everything that goes without the fans and obviously the protocols and how, quote without quote, uncomfortable it was, the whole situation for a team that didn’t. good game. , I believe he was the best player on the team. The MVP, and I actually spoke to him a few days ago, and what I saw is what I heard on the phone. Looking forward to working with him and making him a better player.

Ian Browne has covered the Red Sox for MLB.com since 2002. Follow him on Twitter @IanMBrowne and Facebook.



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