Club won’t rush back better Betts
HOUSTON — The Red Sox began their four-game set against the World Series champion Houston Astros without their best player.
Mookie Betts was out of the lineup last night, the fifth straight game he’s started on the bench.
Betts hasn’t played since last Saturday. He was supposed to play Sunday but was a late scratch when he hurt his left side while taking swings in the indoor batting cage. He hasn’t swung the bat since.
Red Sox manager Alex Cora expected Betts to be ready to play the fourgame series here, but the outfielder’s injury is taking longer to heal than expected.
“More baseball activity today, he did a few things inside, he played catch and he’s going to be in the outfield during batting practice,” Cora said. “We’ll see how he reacts and we’ll see tomorrow.”
The Sox are hoping Betts won’t need a trip to the 10day disabled list.
“No, no, I do feel with the roster we have, we’re OK,” Cora said. “We’re flexible enough we can pay
Blake Swihart, we can play
J.D. Martinez, we can play
Brock Holt. We’re good.”
On Tuesday, Betts said he’d be playing if these games were in September.
“It’s getting better,” he said. “I ran some today. Slowly but surely.”
He’s been doing work in the weight room but clearly hasn’t been deemed gameready yet. He’s never dealt with an injury to his side area before.
2nd thoughts on Holt
Holt is batting .329 with a .407 on-base percentage this year. Originally, he was slated to be in right field in Betts’ absence while the red-hot Andrew Benintendi continues to hit leadoff.
But Dustin Pedroia was a late scratch to the Red Sox lineup due to left knee soreness. It’s the same knee that Pedroia had surgically repaired last October.
Pedroia played both games over the weekend, had Monday off, played on Tuesday, was rested on Wednesday and was supposed to play last night. Cora thought Pedroia could play three out of four games in Houston, but that may change.
Holt took over at second base and Swihart made his first career start in right field.
Ring out the past
Finally, Cora believes he’s ready to move on from his time with the Astros.
Most of his baseball stories still come back to the 2017 Astros, a team that he helped lead as the bench coach to manager A.J. Hinch. But after Cora received his World Series ring and was honored on the field before last night’s game, he was ready to move on.
“It’s about time, man,” he said. “I think, I was talking to a buddy of mine this morning and I think this is when we turn the page in a way. Those kids, the organization, what A.J. means to me, (owner Jim Crane and general manager Jeff Lunhow), I feel the world of them. They’re a big part of what’s going on here. I learned a lot from them and I appreciate that. But as far as finishing the chapter, today is the day.”
Cora said he was going to give his ring to his daughter, Camila, and she would put it in the same place Cora keeps his 2007 World Series ring.
He said the Red Sox and Astros aren’t that different.
“There’s a lot of things that we do here that are very similar to them in using the information, that’s (analytics guru) Zack Scott being part of the equation on a daily basis,” Cora said. “What we’re doing with the medical staff is very similar over there. I saw a lot of good things that happened on a daily basis with the Houston Astros, and obviously like football, copycat league, whatever. That’s what they call it when you’re trying to do the same thing and we’re trying to accomplish the same goal.”