Defending World Series champion Red Sox on repeat for 2019

BOSTON (AP) » Somehow, Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora looked at Mookie Betts’ MVP season and saw room for improvement.

Not the .346 batting average that was the highest in the major leagues. Not the career-high 32 homers, either.

But Betts drove in just 80 runs last year while spending almost all of his time as the leadoff hitter for the Red Sox. That seemed like a missed opportunity, so Cora is planning to bat Betts second this season and move Andrew Benintendi to leadoff.

“If you play 162 games, you’re going to come up 162 at-bats with nobody on,” Cora said.

Betts tied for the major-league lead with 129 runs scored, but he had the fewest at-bats with runners on base in baseball (among batters with at least 600 plate appearances). He is expected to get more batting behind Benintendi, whose .366 on-base percentage was third on the team behind Betts (.438) and J.D. Martinez (.402).

It’s one of the few changes Cora has planned for a team that won a franchise-record 108 games in his first season and its fourth World Series since 2004.

Here are some other things to look for from the defending champions:

ON REPEAT

After going 86 years without a championship, the Red Sox have won four this century. But they haven’t won back-to-back World

MICHAEL DWYER - THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE - In this Sept. 16, 2018, file photo, Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora, left, escorts Mookie Betts off the field during the sixth inning of the team’s baseball game against the New York Mets in Boston.