Cora: ‘Fine with’ new outfield
With all three star fielders gone, names may take getting used to
Just three years after winning the World Series, the Red Sox have let go of all three of their starting outfielders.
Mookie Betts (Dodgers), Jackie Bradley Jr. (Brewers) and Andrew Benintendi (Royals) will be suiting up with different franchises in 2021, not long after their “windance-repeat” celebrations were occurring nightly in center field at Fenway Park.
With Thursday’s news that Bradley agreed to a two-year, $24-million deal with the Brewers, Red Sox manager Alex Cora said changing players is part of the game.
“It’s not crazy at all,” he said before the Sox’ 6-3 loss to the Orioles. “It’s the nature of the business. We have our plans for this year and we have our plans for the upcoming years. Like I’ve been saying all along, we have a good team. Guys come and go. They contribute and go somewhere else. That’s been happening in baseball forever.
“So yeah, we’re going to miss them. I think from my end, you miss the player on the field but I think you miss the person, which is the most important thing. I’m very excited with the talent that we have, the things that we’re gonna be able to do with what we have and we’re gonna have a good team. We’re gonna have a good team. I’m very excited about this group.”
The most likely alignment could be Franchy Cordero in left, Alex Verdugo in center and Hunter Renfroe in right field, but Renfroe (righthanded) and Cordero (lefthanded) could be good platoon partners if Cora wants to play the matchups.
If Marwin Gonzalez looks good at second base, they can also go with Gonzalez at second and Kike Hernandez in center, with Verdugo playing right field.
“We have capable athletes,” Cora said. “When you talk about Marcus (Betts) and Jackie, yeah, they’re freak athletes. But we have a bunch of good athletes too. It’s not like all of a sudden we became slow and not capable. We are capable. I’m fine with what we have. We’re going to move around. It’s interesting to manage this roster. It’s a challenge but a good challenge. I’m up for the challenge.”
Cora said he’s not settled on any one alignment, “I’m settled with talent.”
He suggested that right field has more value than center field at Fenway Park, where Betts won several Gold Gloves in right and Bradley won just one in center. “There’s not too much you can do going to your right as a center fielder,” Cora said. “All you can do is either see it going over the Monster or play it off the wall, catch it, and throw to second base. We think the real value is in right field.”
Houck struggles in spring debut
Tanner Houck had a disastrous first outing of the spring.
A rookie pitching sensation who had three brilliant starts at the end of last season, Houck faced nine Orioles batters on Thursday and walked five of them.
Matt Andriese started the game and threw two shutout innings before Houck came in to start the third. He recorded one out, walked two batters, allowed a double, walked two more and was replaced by Durbin Feltman.
With spring training rules, Houck was allowed to re-enter the game to start the fourth, but it wasn’t much smoother as he recorded one out, allowed a single and gave up another walk.
“He was out of his delivery,” Cora said. “He rushed a little bit. He was all over the place, but just like the other guys, this is about repetitions, getting their work in. He did, but in a different fashion, right? Glad that he’s healthy. You can see the stuff. He was throwing 94, 95.”
Casas held out
Top prospect Triston Casas has not joined the team in Fort Myers because of a personal medical issue, Cora said.
Casas has been held in Boston because “they found something medically that we have to take care of.” It’s not baseball-related and the team expects him to return soon.
Xander Bogaerts, who has been out with a sore shoulder, restarted his throwing program on Thursday and the Sox will take it slow to see how he reacts. … Michael Chavis is currently out with a tight back. … Cordero has yet to join the team due to COVID-19-related issues, but he’s in Fort Myers waiting to be cleared. … Top pitching prospect Bryan Mata will have an MRI on his sore throwing arm. … Eduardo Rodriguez will start Friday’s game followed by Nathan Eovaldi on Saturday, Garrett Richards and Martin Perez on Sunday, Nick Pivetta on Tuesday and Andriese and Houck again next Wednesday. … Duran hit his second homer of the spring.