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00:00Alex Cora is brought to you on WEEI Afternoons by Shaw's and Star Market, the official supermarket of the Red Sox radio network.
00:08By Arbella, here for baseball fans, here for good.
00:11And by John Sewer and Drain Cleaning, the name to know when your drains don't flow.
00:15Alex Cora, thanks for joining us today. Are we safe to say we're feeling a little bit better after last night's performance?
00:23Thank you for having me. Yeah, we feel better. I mean, yesterday was a much better game.
00:27We pitch, we run the base as well, obviously we hit, and we play a clean game, which is what we're trying to accomplish.
00:35From the outside looking in, it seemed and sounded like you kind of called your baseball team out the other night after the 16-1 loss,
00:43and a night later they responded. Would you sort of agree with that assessment?
00:48No, I call out the coaches, man.
00:50No, we find ways to send messages, and what I tell the media most of the time, I tell the players.
01:02And they know that we have a good baseball team, and they know that we haven't played to our standards, right?
01:13And it's not about wins and losses. It's about how you play on a nightly basis.
01:20You've got to be consistent, and we've been consistently bad, to be honest with you.
01:26I think, you know, defensively, we have struggled.
01:30Offensively, it's been up and down, and the pitching has been inconsistent, like I said.
01:34So it's one of those that you want to finish the road trip the right way, regardless of the results.
01:41You know, I've been saying it all along since day one in spring training.
01:45If we play consistent and we do the things that we're supposed to do, we're going to win a lot of ballgames.
01:51And right now, we're around 500 because we haven't done that.
01:57So it's funny you say, Alex, that you guys have been chasing but not being able to achieve consistency,
02:03because if I had to pick one way to describe the team, it would be consistently inconsistent.
02:10That's a good way to say it.
02:12Thank you. Please feel free. It's all yours.
02:14But, you know, the thing is, like, the only real constants so far have been too many strikeouts, or so it seems,
02:22and some defensive miscues.
02:23So how do you think you get on track, being a more consistent ball club,
02:28and between the strikeouts and the errors, which of those drives you craziest
02:31and you think you can clean up quicker?
02:36From my end, because as a player who I was, the defense is the one that drives me crazy.
02:42But then you sit down and you break it down, and there's been four catches interference.
02:49Tristan dropped a throw from Trevor.
02:51That usually doesn't happen.
02:53I know Alex has four errors, but, you know, he's probably leading the league in starting double plays.
03:00Trevor made an error on lack of communication in the double play.
03:05So you break it down and see what is really going on, you know,
03:11and there's a lot of good things defensively, some bad things, too, like I just mentioned them.
03:16But I think that's the part that drives me crazy because of who I was, like I said before, as a player.
03:23So Tanner Houck struggled the other night.
03:26He struggled down the stretch at times last year.
03:29Watching that game, to me, it felt like you left him out there longer than maybe I would have expected as a fan.
03:35And is that accurate?
03:37You know, what was the thinking behind leaving him out there maybe a little longer?
03:41I mean, we still have two more games.
03:43And you've got to manage the game.
03:47You've got to manage the series.
03:48You've got to manage the week.
03:49That's the way it goes.
03:50And, you know, if you go to the bullpen too early, then you cannot do the things that we did that day
03:58with Fulmer, Winkowski, Weiser, and Bernardino helping us to accomplish what we did yesterday
04:05when Walker went five innings.
04:07You know, that's the reality of managers.
04:11You know, people get caught up on too soon, too late.
04:15But there's a game the next day.
04:17And that's the beauty of the big leagues.
04:20And my job is, like I said before, manage the game today, manage the series, the week, the month, and the season.
04:28And, you know, it hurt watching him out there.
04:31There was a lot of C9 singles at one point.
04:34He got hit hard, too.
04:36You're hoping for a ground ball to play, and we actually got it, right?
04:39And Alex didn't make the play.
04:40So that's from my view.
04:43That's the way I see it.
04:45And I think what Fulmer, Wink, Weiser, and Bernie did that day after Tanner helped us win a ballgame yesterday.
04:54And hopefully that can help us win a ballgame today.
04:58Red Sox manager Alex Cora here on WEEI Afternoons.
05:01Obviously, Alex, good win last night.
05:03Nice turnaround from Monday night's jaw-dropper.
05:05But that's not to say that the weekend also wasn't a bit of a surprise or a jaw-dropper as well, including last Friday night going out there 2-10 the White Sox were before you guys got to town.
05:17Losing 2 out of 3 and especially a 10-run game on a Friday night to the White Sox.
05:21How do you think that series got away from you guys?
05:24We were up 2-0 in the sixth inning of game two.
05:31And, you know, Fitz got hurt.
05:33We threw a fastball right in the middle to Robert, and he hit our ballpark.
05:38We were in position to win game two.
05:41You know, it's one of those that I always said that regardless of the opponent at this level,
05:48and you see the offensive numbers around the league, right?
05:52I think it's the worst batting average since I don't know when and the on-base percentage since, like, 1972.
05:59Pitching is at its best.
06:01And regardless of who you are, you're going to have guys that are throwing 97, 98.
06:07You're going to have bullpens that are capable of shutting anybody down on a nightly basis.
06:13And, obviously, we didn't play good baseball on Friday.
06:16But, overall, a bunch of good arms that they strike a lot of people out.
06:23That bullpen of the White Sox.
06:25And, you know, we just lost two at a three.
06:27We did a good job on Sunday, kind of like saving the series, right?
06:31Not getting swept.
06:32And, you know, we got a chance to play them again this weekend.
06:35Hopefully, we can do better.
06:36But, you know, I think if you look around the league and you see the records of the teams
06:42and you see the American League, everybody's competitive.
06:46You know, everybody has capable arms.
06:48And you're going to run into series or anything like that.
06:51Does it get magnified because it's early in the season or because of their record?
06:55Of course, you know.
06:56But you cannot just put your head down because you lost two out of three against the White Sox.
07:02You've got to move on.
07:03We didn't do a good job of that on the first game here.
07:06And we were better yesterday.
07:08I know you often tell us how long the season is and sort of saying even-keeled.
07:13And one of the things I looked at is, you know, you play some bad baseball.
07:16You know, you're a sub-500 team.
07:19You know, you get some games that 11-1, 16-1.
07:22And then you look at the standings and you're two games out of first place.
07:25Like the AL East is bunched up.
07:27The AL in general is bunched up.
07:29Do you take any solace in that?
07:31Like, yeah, we've played some bad baseball.
07:33I think we're a good baseball team.
07:34And we're really only two games out right now.
07:37Probably a lot of people not in the organization and the division feels that way too, right?
07:43Like nobody has played great baseball.
07:45And, you know, it's still early, obviously.
07:49But, you know, we've been in tough situations, right?
07:53Early in the season.
07:55Like one team, I think at one point, remember the Rays, they won like 13 in a row early in the season.
08:02A few years ago or last year, I don't remember.
08:04And right away, they had a six, a seven-game lead.
08:08The Yankees have done that a few times.
08:11We did it in 18.
08:13So, you know, for how inconsistent we've been, you know, I feel okay that nobody in the division has taken off.
08:21So, Duran got his first home run of the season last night as well.
08:27Do you think that maybe that first dinger, some positive at-bats for him, could that be something that finally gets him going?
08:34Because perhaps if there's anybody, I know Bregman's hitting well, Story's hitting well, but if there's anybody who could be the spark or the catalyst offensively for the Sox, it very likely could be Duran.
08:43Yeah, and it started on Monday, which is great.
08:48You know, in a game that was out of hand, the last at-bat hit a ground ball through the hole.
08:54Then yesterday, obviously the homer, but the two walks, controlling the strike zone is very important.
08:59And when you start walking, it means that you are on time, you're swinging at the right ones, you're not trying to do too much.
09:07And yesterday, yeah, the homer was great, but ended up walking twice.
09:10We just talked about it.
09:11I just saw him in the clubhouse.
09:13You know, just the quality of the at-bats were a lot better.
09:16He's been actually, if you look at him in Texas and in Baltimore, he was driving the ball to left center.
09:23And then he got away from it trying to do too much.
09:26Hopefully, he gets back to let the ball travel and driving it to left center.
09:32And if he starts doing that consistently, then it's going to be fun to watch.
09:37You've been very consistent throughout the spring, even early in the season, with the team struggling at times, saying,
09:42this is a good baseball team.
09:43We're a good baseball team.
09:46That seems very intentional on your part, but does it also come with a realization you are putting some pressure on yourself
09:53as the manager to win games, on the team to win games?
09:55Does that increase the expectations and pressure on your baseball team and yourself?
10:01No, no, because I can say it's worse here than a bust, like in 18th, right?
10:05That's pressure.
10:06That was the reality of that club.
10:09I think, you know, the last few years, we've been trying to motivate the group and saying,
10:16hey, we're a playoff team and we have to make it.
10:18But obviously, you know, that wasn't the reality, right?
10:22Where we were, as an organization, we were trying to win as many games as possible, but developing players.
10:27I think we did a good job until the trading deadline, right?
10:29We were fighting until there, and then it didn't happen.
10:33This year, we have a solid baseball team.
10:35And, you know, we know we're capable of playing meaningful games in September and October,
10:41but at the same time, you have to take care of the pillars of the game, right?
10:46You have to, you know, catch the ball and you have to pitch.
10:50If you do that consistently through 162, good things are going to happen.
10:54But offensively, we live in an era that is very hard to hit.
10:58Obviously, we don't like the strikeouts, but maybe that's part of our DNA.
11:02But also, in our DNA, I think we're going to drive the ball out of the ballpark at one point.
11:07We haven't done that yet.
11:08I think it's going to come.
11:11And I think we're much better at controlling the strikes.
11:14But, yeah, I mean, it's not pressure.
11:16It's the reality of who we are.
11:18We made some moves in the offseason to get to this point.
11:21Now it's a matter of just keep working hard, try to get better each and every day.
11:27Like Andrew Bailey always says, the main event is the main event.
11:30It's a 7-0-5, 4-30, 1-30, right?
11:33Try to win the main event.
11:35You win it.
11:35You turn the page.
11:36You lose it.
11:37You turn the page.
11:38And if we do that consistently, we're going to be fine.
11:40And speaking of key offseason additions, Alex, obviously, he carried the day offensively last night as well.
11:46Alex Bregman going to be off on a bit of a paternity leave.
11:49How long do you expect him to be out?
11:51And who's going to be filling in for him during his absence?
11:55Yeah, I mean, hopefully everything goes well tonight or tomorrow.
12:00And his plan is to be back with us on Friday.
12:04So we wish him and Regan nothing but the best, you know.
12:08What a night he had yesterday, right?
12:10Go 5-5, hop on a plane and get your second child, right?
12:15That was amazing.
12:15And, you know, Sogar is going to be with us.
12:18He's going to be with us today.
12:21We'll see what happens on Friday.
12:22But I think it's good.
12:24Sweet shooter who can play first.
12:26Well, he can play everywhere.
12:27It's a quality of that.
12:28Alex, my moles tell me that Rafi Devers takes ground balls pregame and it's part of his warm-ups and things of that nature.
12:35I know you've said he won't play third, but is there a chance we see him at first?
12:39Could we see him use that glove in games?
12:41What's the story there?
12:42No, no, no, no.
12:45Rafi's going to DH.
12:48He's, you know, unless it's an emergency, we'll use him on the field.
12:52But the plan is for him to DH.
12:55Along those same lines, Christian Campbell, is the plan to continue to give him reps at different spots?
13:00Has there been any thought to just placing him at second base and letting him develop there full-time?
13:05Because obviously he's been great offensively, been some hiccups here or there defensively.
13:09Thought to that?
13:10No, he'll keep doing the same thing.
13:15He'll play the majority of the game into second base.
13:17He'll play probably center field once a week.
13:19We've got to get David Hamilton involved.
13:21That's very important for us.
13:23He's a big part of what we're trying to accomplish.
13:26He's a dynamic player.
13:27You guys know what he can do when he gets on base.
13:30And we've got to get him at bats.
13:31And before we let you go, I know we asked you this last week, but are we even closer, I guess, a week later, to the troops, the pitching troops, Bayo and Giolito, and maybe getting some reinforcements?
13:43Yeah.
13:44Giolito pitched yesterday.
13:45It was 2-8 in 60 pitches.
13:47So, just waiting on the report, how'd he go, how he feels.
13:53Most likely, he has one or two more.
13:56Bayo is pitching tonight in Hartford.
13:59So, hopefully, it's a good one.
14:01And, you know, the plan is for him to probably join us next week.
14:06Liam is pitching tonight, too, in that game.
14:10There's a good chance he'll join us over the weekend.
14:13All right, Alex, appreciate you joining us.
14:16And, hopefully, we'll look forward to another victory tonight and talking to you next week.
14:20Thank you, guys.
14:20See you guys next week.
14:22Be well.
14:22Thank you, Alex.
14:23Alex Gore, the manager of the Boston Red Sox, here on WEI Afternoon.