[ad_1]
NEW YORK – John Henry, the main owner of the Boston Red Sox, was at the Yankee Stadium at the Yankee Stadium late Tuesday night, answering questions from a group of reporters.
A year ago, Henry and president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski made the decision to fire a successful manager, John Farrell, who still has a year remaining on his contract. Farrell had won a World Series in 2013 and back-to-back division titles in 2016 and 2017, but after consecutive defeats in the division, Henry and Dombrowski looked outside the organization for a new manager.
From the first pitch of every series to the last of Game 7, you can catch the MLB Postseason on ESPN Radio. Listen »
They settled on Alex Cora, a trained ESPN analyst who had spent 2017 as A.J. Hinch's bench coach for the Houston Astros World Series champion. He would be good with the media, he would have had a good time with the media and would like to bring some of the Astros' analytics to the Red Sox's game preparation.
Henry assessed Cora's performance thusly: "He was a magician."
Indeed, while Yankees rookie manager Aaron Boone Luis Severino in Game 3 and Sabathia in Game 4, every button Cora pushed in the series was the right one. Consider:
– He brought in Rick Porcello in relief in the eighth inning of Game 1, and retired Porcello Miguel Andujar and Gary Sanchez.
– He started Brock Holt in Game 3, and Holt became the first player in the postseason history for the cycle.
Ian Kinsler for Holt in Game 4, and Kinsler doubled in a rocket in the third inning and scored the third run of the rally by Eduardo Nunez and the Red Sox took a 3-0 lead. Nunez was back in the lineup for Rafael Devers, who had two hits and two runs in Game 3.
– He started Christian Vazquez in Game 4 to catch Porcello for the first time all year, and not only did it.
– His bullpen moves worked out to perfection in Game 4 as he pulled Porcello even though he had allowed him and Chris Barnes, Ryan Brasier and then Chris Sale each threw a perfect inning Destroyed the game away by himself in the ninth).
Managers get too much blame for October defeats – Boone may be justifiably criticized, but it was not the case that the Yankees went home with two games. Maybe managers get too much credit as well. After all, the moves are looked after by the players performed.
In retrospect, the decision to use Porcello in Game 1 was huge. The bullpen was struggling as angry, Brandon Workman and Barnes With injured Steven Wright, Cora used Porcello to bridge the gap to Kimbrel. He then used in a similar fashion in Game 4.
"It's a win-now mentality and that's what it took and we were able to do it," Jackie Bradley Jr. said amid the celebration.
Barnes praised Cora after the clincher series.
"We're very fortunate to have in A.C. [someone] who is not far from the game, which definitely helps, "he said." It seemed like every button he's pushing is the right one. I think he's got a great feel for the game. He understands the game. He is a great job of managing and communicating with everybody on what's going on, and I think it showed in this series. "
Even if he went to the clubhouse before Game 4, he told Cora he wanted the ball at some point in the game.
"I said it was a bad thing, but it worked out," Sale said.
Cora was laughing – but he was listening too.
Cora also influenced the team's off-field groundwork in three significant ways. He brought the advanced scouting department completely in-house, relying on video scouts and analysts. He shifted responsibility for defensive alignments from the coaching staff to the analytics department. He emphasized keeping the players fresh – not just down the stretch after the Red Sox had a big lead in the AL East, but even going back to the first road trip of the season.
OK, so all came together against the Yankees. What will be Cora's key decisions against the Astros? A few to consider:
1. Who starts Games 1 and 2?
Cora announced Wednesday afternoon that Sale will get Game 1 and David Price will start Game 2. He will be ready to play with the Yankees, but he said after the game that he would have been ready for Game 5, so .
The defending fields had a franchise-record 103 wins and still could not match Boston. Yeah, this matchup is epic.
The winningest team in the Red Sox franchise history survived a dramatic ninth inning rally by the Yankees to advance to the American League Championship Series, where the defending World Series champion Astros awaited.
From the wild-card round the World Series, we'll have the 2018 postseason covered.
2 Related
Price is a different matter, given his poor performance in Game 2 against the Yankees and his spotty postseason history. Cora could have gone with Nathan Eovaldi and pushed back to Game 3 or even Game 4. A few things to consider:
ERA compared to 4.31 (though one-year-old home / road splits are always noisy). Starting Price in Game 2 Would you like to play a game? Game 6 at Fenway, avoiding a start at Minute Maid Park.
– The Astros, with their righty-heavy lineup, crushed lefties, with the highest OPS in the majors against southpaws. But Cora would use his two lefties – Sale and Price – at Fenway, which could help a bit.
– If the rotation goes Sale-Price-Eovaldi-Porcello, that leaves Porcello has a potential relief option in Game 1 or maybe Game 2.
2. How will Cora manage the bullpen?
One thing Cora has been talking about how to be successful in the world of planning and plan B Plan C. He learned from Hinch last postseason, who quickly abandoned Ken Giles and used starters in relief throughout the postseason.
Cora is not going to lease on Kimbrel, even though he is allowed to run in both his outings. Still, Cora's initial plan, based on Game 1, Kimbrel for more than three outs. We'll see if that remains the plan against the Astros.
As for the rest of the bullpen, it's about finding the hot hand. It helps that all those power connects – Barnes, Brasier, Kimbrel, Joe Kelly – will face that predominantly right-handed lineup. The roles will also depend on where the Astros are in the lineup. In Game 4, Cora used Barnes against the middle of the Yankees' order in the sixth and Brasier against the bottom of the order in the seventh.
3. Who starts in the infield?
Brock Holt and Rafael Devers playing against Houston's right-handed starters and Nunez and Kinsler starting against Dallas Keuchel. Or maybe Cora mixes and matches a little (Nunez and Kinsler are the best defenders, not that Nunez is a big plus at third, his final play in Game 4 notwithstanding).
I suspect we could see a lot of Holt in the series. Against pitches of 95-plus mph from Holt hit .350 / .386 / .650 (granted, in just 44 flat appearances). Kinsler hit .207 / .288 / .276 in those situations. Kinsler versus Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole does not feel like a good matchup.
4. Who catches?
Sandy Leon (.511 OPS) and Vazquez (.540 OPS) were both terrible in the regular season. Leon, however, just hit .095 in the second half (11-for-116). Cora went with Vazquez as the surprise starter in Game 4 and he can get the bulk of the moving forward.
5. Quick hooks?
Nothing stirs more arguments about a manager's performance in October than when he pulls the starter. Porcello after just 65 pitches in Game 4 was a sign that Cora is not a sweater to starter a batter too early rather than two batters too late.
Source link
