The rest is history
Sox’ plan of saving energy pays dividends
Coffee, Red Bull and 5-Hour Energy, or some combination of the three, are necessities for any baseball player competing deep into October.
Not that any player with an ounce of self-awareness would dare whine about having to play in the World Series because of the physical grind. But after a 162game regular season, having to play 11-20 additional games in the pressurepacked postseason is not easy. There is something to be said for clear eyes, fresh arms and a spring in one’s step.
On the Red Sox’ side, with up to six World Series contests remaining entering last night’s Game 2 against the Dodgers at Fenway Park, they appeared to have plenty of energy.
The bullpen arms are relatively rested after being used more sparingly than usual in September, the starters have been treated with kid gloves since spring training in order to be ready for a variety of roles now, and the position players have been given days off even when they weren’t wanted. This was all by design. After winning enough games to reach the postseason, everything the Red Sox have tried to do since has been aimed at one goal: be as fresh and healthy as possible when the postseason arrived.
It seems to have worked. The Red Sox rolled past the Yankees and Astros and applied a convincing thump to the Dodgers in Game 1.
It’s impossible to decode the DNA of the Red Sox’ inspired and elevated play this month, but one thing is clear: All that extra rest and attention paid to rest sure didn’t hurt.
And that was the idea, said first-time manager Alex Cora.
“We talked about it in the interview process, and I had a chance right away in Tampa, in the first four games. I gave (Rafael Devers) an off day, I don’t know, (Andrew Benintendi) an off day, and then the big day was Game 6 of the season. We went to Miami, and I had to rest Mookie (Betts). And I still remember Xander (Bogaerts), he looked at the lineup and he’s like, ‘Oh, this is real.’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah, you guys are going to rest.’
“And the other big day (April 22) was after the nohitter in Oakland, we didn’t play a few guys (Betts, Bogaerts, Eduardo Nunez), and people were like, ‘What are you doing?’ It was a scheduled off day. And they bought into it, and it feels that way. They’re fresh, and they’re playing probably as good (as) the first 17 games of the season when we were 15-2.”
Of the second-guessing that has gone into why the Red Sox wanted a different manager than John Farrell, one point that continues to come up is that he rode certain players too hard, used them too often, whether it was allowing Chris Sale’s pitch count to eclipse 100 in the first half of the season or letting Bogaerts play through a hand injury.
The Red Sox’ plan to preserve wear and tear and innings and pitches on the rotation appears to have worked well with the exception of Sale, who developed a “mild” case of shoulder irritation that was not mild at all, considering his performances and appearances dropped way off ever since. He got plenty of rest this season, but there are plenty of questions concerning his overall health that will be explored once the offseason hits.
Cora explained he learned how to moderate usage while serving as A.J. Hinch’s bench coach last season in Houston.
“He did an outstanding job keeping Jose (Altuve) fresh, Carlos (Correa), George Springer,” Cora said. “These guys are freak athletes, they’re unreal. And last year we had a conversation, and usually when you have Jose going and those hot streaks ... most managers will just keep them rolling. And it was the other way around with A.J.”
Even to Brock Holt, who gets plenty of bench time, there’s value in Cora’s rest philosophy, not just because it means he knows he’ll be on the field.
“I think it’s important to give guys breaks. The baseball season is long, and I think we all knew that going in. I think he preached that in spring training,” Holt said. “He said, ‘We’re going to give guys days off.’ And I think having as many talented players as we do made that easier for him to give guys like Bogey a day off or Beni or Mookie or J.D. even.
“So whenever you have a deep group, I think it makes that part easier. And to be a good team, to be a championship team, you’ve got to have help from everyone.”
The legal stimulants still come in handy, of course. But there’s more to the Red Sox’ raised level of play at this moment than meets the eye.