Cora prepared to go all in
Eovaldi, Pivetta ready in bullpen if needed
It may not exactly be like the 2018 postseason all over again, but Alex Cora is willing to do anything to see his Red Sox clinch a playoff berth this weekend.
RED SOX NOTEBOOK
With dizzying playoff scenarios changing day-by-day and game-by-game, the Red Sox manager is staying ready for any possibility — including using his starters on short rest, much like how he managed them to a World Series three years ago. Tanner Houck started Saturday’s game against the Nationals, but beyond that, no plan was concrete yet.
Chris Sale was lined up to start Sunday’s season finale in Washington, a game that is guaranteed to have playoff ramifications. But until the Mariners finished their game out west against the Angels, which was scheduled to start at 9 p.m. ET, it wasn’t certain if the lefty would start.
“Let’s win today and at like 12:45 a.m, 1 a.m. in the morning, we’ll know more of the possible scenarios for (Sunday),” Cora said. “But one thing for sure, we know that at least 162 counts and we’ve got that going for us. But at the same time, a win today is on our agenda. We’re going to try to do everything to win today, and then see where we’re at and then we’ll make decisions.”
If the situation presents itself, Cora is prepared to use Nathan Eovaldi and/or Nick Pivetta out of the bullpen, even though they started Wednesday and Thursday, respectively. Eduardo Rodriguez, who started Friday, seems to be out of the picture, but the lefty said he’d be ready to pitch one inning on Sunday — which is his normal bullpen day — if he’s needed.
“I texted them this morning. ‘Hey, man, spikes on. Spikes on,’” Cora said. “I’m not going to tell you who said, ‘Are we taking BP?’ Out of the three guys, there’s only one guy that doesn’t know what spikes on means. I’ll leave that to you guys. Nate will be in the bullpen, Nick will be in the bullpen, and of course Eddie we’ll stay away from. That doesn’t mean we’re going to use them, but they’ll have their spikes on. We’ll see.”
Whitlock not ready
After throwing a bullpen Friday, Garrett Whitlock wasn’t ready to be activated Saturday in his return from a right pectoral strain, but there’s a chance the star rookie reliever could return on Sunday. Cora wanted to wait to see how Whitlock bounced back from Friday’s session.
“It’s a 50-50 chance,” Cora said. “Obviously we have to think about the team and the roster and all that stuff, but also his health. We’ll see how it goes (Saturday) and what he can give us (Sunday) if needed and then we’ll make a decision.”
Josh Taylor will not return before the end of the regular season. The lefty reliever, on the shelf with a back strain, is not with the team in Washington.
“He’s not progressing as fast as we hoped,” Cora said. “We still have to be patient with him.”
Ottavino slides
In what’s been a hot and cold season for Adam Ottavino, the veteran is going through another rough stretch. The eighth-inning homer he gave up Friday was the third in his last four outings. Each of them have been hit off his slider.
“He thinks it’s staying in the same plane,” Cora said. “He actually threw a good one to (Ryan Zimmerman) after the homer. He went fastball, fastball, I think it was, and the slider. His fastball is playing well. The slider is the one right now that’s not where he wants it. We’ll keep talking, keep working, keep finding good matchups for him to help us.
“As you know, he’s very important for us. That fastball is a good one. I’m not saying we’re going to go out there and just throw fastballs. His slider has been a good one throughout the season. Keep working with it and let’s see what we can do.”