Cora: More pitchers can bring the heat
FORT MYERS, FLA. >> Red Sox spring training games begin at JetBlue Park on Friday, and Alex Cora isn’t wasting any time getting his Major League arms on the mound.
On Friday, when the Sox host Northeastern University for their annual exhibition contest, “a bunch of relievers” will face the college kids, Cora said.
Garrett Whitlock will make the first start of the official games on Saturday at 1:05 p.m. when the Sox head to the Baltimore Orioles’ spring training complex.
Brayan Bello and Lucas Giolito, each of whom threw two innings of live batting practice on Tuesday, are candidates to start Sunday or Monday, followed by Nick Pivetta, who will pitch against his former team, the Phillies, on Tuesday.
Pivetta and Tanner Houck each threw two updown innings of live BP on Wednesday, and earned rave reviews from their manager.
“Tanner was really good today,” Cora said. “Velocity was very up there, good action on slider.”
“Nick, the fastball was hopping,” the skipper added. “For the first up and down, it was really good.”
Velocity has increased this year, in general, as has the size of the pitchers doing the throwing. Cora spoke about it while discussing Justin Slaten, a new member of the 40-man roster who’s fighting for a spot on the Opening Day squad.
“Velocity, movement, obviously you gotta make sure he throws that over the heart of the plate, but so far so good,” Cora said of Slaten. “Big boy, good stuff.”
“If you look around, I think we’re a little bit bigger in that department this year,” he added. “A lot of big bodies, a lot of big dudes, and nasty stuff, so we just gotta make sure we throw that nasty stuff over the heart of the plate, and take our chances.
“Decision-making at 97, 98 (mph) is a lot more difficult than at 90, 91, and last year, we had no velo,” Cora said. “We had some nasty pitches, right? Good sliders, cutters, and all that, but velocity wasn’t a part of our repertoire, and this year, it’s gonna be a little bit different.”
Several pitchers have also improved from working with veteran catcher Roberto Pérez, who is imparting wisdom while rehabbing from shoulder surgery.
“They’re very pleased, they like him, the feedback was really good,” Cora said after Pérez worked with Pivetta and Houck.
“He comes from a great pitching program,” he said, “and they did an outstanding job, and he was a big part of it. He’s won a Gold Glove before, or two.”
Back-to-back Gold Gloves, in fact, with Cleveland in ‘20 and ‘21.
“The main thing with him, and why people, teams keep calling him, is because of what he can do behind the plate,” the skipper added.
As for the Opening Day starter, it’s still too early for him to name names. Earlier in the week, he joked about tabbing Chris Sale for the job, only to see him traded to the Atlanta Braves.
However, Cora did make it a point to say that building up Brayan Bello is a priority for the beginning of the season. “The goal here is to get him ready to pitch in the big leagues, to pitch in the regular season as soon as possible,” he said.
Asked if that meant Opening Day, all the manager would say was, “To pitch in the big leagues as soon as possible.”
‘A complete player’
Wilyer Abreu also received some high praise from Cora on Wednesday.
As the rookie outfielder competes for a roster spot, his manager wants him to, “Just keep doing the things that he did last year.”
“He’s a good player,” Cora said. “He’s a good defender, puts good at-bats, hits the ball hard, he runs the bases well. He’s a complete player.”
The Red Sox acquired Abreu at the ’22 trade deadline, when they dealt Christian Vázquez to the Houston Astros. Cora raved about Abreu last spring training, too. He debuted on Aug. 22, and collected 24 hits, including six doubles and two home runs, in 28 games.
They see him playing right-field. “His arm plays, his actions,” Cora said, “I mean, this guy’s really good.”
Overall, Cora believes the Sox outfielder crew is “more athletic than last year, so we can move guys around.”
“The guys that we have, they’re gonna go get ‘em: Tyler (O’Neill), he’s won a Gold Glove, he’s very quick, he reads,” he said, “and then Abreu, we’ll see what the future holds, but we’re comfortable with him playing right field.”
Bello extension?
Over the past couple of years the Red Sox have expressed a willingness to work out long-term contract extensions with some of their young stars, and one such deal may soon be within reach.
According to MassLive’s Chris Cotillo, the Red Sox are engaged in extension talks with Bello and that those conversations have been heating up. Bello told Cotillo in Fort Myers Wednesday that his agents have been discussing a new contract with the club, and when asked if a deal was close he responded “mas o menos” — which translates to “more or less” — and said “maybe” when asked if an agreement could be reached before the end of spring training.
Bello, who turns 25 in May, is coming off a successful first full season in the majors and was Boston’s best starting pitcher in 2023. The Dominican Republic native led the Red Sox in starts (28) and innings pitched (157) and posted a 4.24 ERA.
Signed as an international free agent in 2017 for only $28,000, Bello is arguably the Red Sox biggest pitching development success story of the last decade. He rose from relative obscurity to Boston’s top pitching prospect and now ranks among the best young pitchers in baseball age 25 or under.
Bello won’t be eligible for salary arbitration for another two years and isn’t scheduled to become a free agent until after 2028, but a long-term extension would both reward the pitcher for his accomplishments while also ensuring he remains a mainstay in the Red Sox rotation through the remainder of the decade and potentially beyond.
A Bello extension would also be a major boost for the club after its highly disappointing offseason and would represent a step forward after it failed to reach early extensions with its last generation of homegrown stars, most notably Mookie Betts. The Red Sox have also engaged secondyear slugger Triston Casas in extension talks, but the first baseman told reporters recently that the sides weren’t close and that the club’s offer was “nothing enticing.”