The Boston Red Sox Monday, October 22, 2018

Transcription

1 * The Boston Globe The Boston Red Sox Monday, October 22, 2018 Opposing managers Alex Cora, Dave Roberts share rich history with Red Sox, Dodgers Peter Abraham If Alex Cora is going to end his outrageously successful first season as manager of the Red Sox by winning the World Series, it seems only fitting that it would come against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers drafted Cora out of the University of Miami in 1996 and he made his debut with them two years later. Cora spent nine seasons in all with the Dodgers. This is a special organization for me and my family, Cora said Sunday before the Sox worked out at Fenway Park. They gave me my shot to play in the big leagues. Cora played three seasons in Los Angeles with Dave Roberts, now the Dodgers manager and still a good friend. Jaime Jarrin, the team s Hall of Fame Spanish broadcaster, called Cora on Saturday to say he was looking forward to seeing him in the Series. Cora also has a great reverence for retired Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully. There s a lot of history between these two franchises, Cora said. Cora and Roberts will be the first former teammates to meet in the World Series as managers since Mike Scioscia of the Angels and Dusty Baker of the Giants in They were Dodgers, too. Cora and Roberts each played for the Dodgers and Sox in their careers. That will be a World Series first, the respective managers having played for both teams. To manage against Dave is going to be special, Cora said. He really cares; he s very passionate. Nobody thought that he was going to be the guy a few years ago. Since then they have dominated that division. You can see the passion and the emotion. It ll be great. The Dodgers beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 5-1, in Game 7 of the NLCS on Saturday then flew to Boston late Sunday afternoon. The teams will have a workout at Fenway Park on Monday before Game 1 at 8:09 p.m. on Tuesday. Chris Sale starts for the Red Sox. The Dodgers have not named their starter. When the teams are introduced on Tuesday, Roberts is sure to get a warm reception from the fans given his special place in Red Sox history. I still remember in 2004 when he got traded, Cora said. We were in San Diego at that time. We had the best team in the National League West. He got called into the office by [manager] Jim Tracy and they told him he got traded to the Red Sox. He was down, upset. It was a good group. We felt that we had something special going on. And I still remember, I told him, Hey man, you re going to a great baseball city. You never know what can happen. Just enjoy the ride.

2 What happened, of course, is that Roberts pinch ran for Kevin Millar in the ninth inning of Game 4 of the American League Championship Series against the Yankees, stole second base, and then scored the tying run when Bill Mueller singled. Cora said he spoke to Roberts after that game and told him he could become a hero. It proved true. The Sox went on to win that game and didn t lose again that season. They came back from a 3-0 deficit to beat the Yankees and swept the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series for the franchise s first title since Roberts was traded to the Padres after the season and played four more seasons in the majors. He worked for NESN in 2009 then went into coaching. This is Roberts s third season managing the Dodgers and he has twice guided them to the World Series. Great guy; great family guy. A friend of mine, Cora said. I ve been pulling for him for a while. He s done an outstanding job with an outstanding organization. I m very proud that he s here in the World Series. The Sox played the then Brooklyn Robbins in the 1916 World Series and beat them in five games behind Ernie Shore and a 21-year-old lefthanded pitcher named Babe Ruth. The Dodgers of that time had future Hall of Famer Rube Marquard on the mound and Casey Stengel playing right field. The Sox will have ample information in advance of the series. They ve had scouts on the Dodgers since September and Cora is working from a good base of knowledge gained last season when he helped the Astros prepare for the World Series. Red Sox hitting coach Tim Hyers was assistant hitting coach of the Dodgers from and knows their roster well. He should be of particular assistance to the Sox pitchers. The Sox coaches, scouts and analytics staff met Sunday to game plan for the Series. That information will go to the players on Monday. We ll add it up on Tuesday and we ll be ready, Cora said. For the Kimbrels, the only save that truly mattered came in March Tara Sullivan Lydia Joy Kimbrel is 13 days away from her first birthday. The Red Sox are four wins away from giving her a most perfect present. If it happens, if the Red Sox cap this remarkable season with a World Series title, if they end up taking one final champagne shower and partying with a championship duck boat tour, they will share a small but deeply emotional slice of their journey with little Lydia Joy. The daughter of closer Craig Kimbrel and his wife Ashley is, after all, the toughest fighter in the room, surviving the congenital heart condition that necessitated multiple major surgeries, thriving since the March procedure that forced her dad to miss a large chunk of spring training and through it all, inspiring a group of teammates driven to rally around one of their own, a living, bouncing reminder that as great as it is to win a baseball game, beating the medical odds is so, so much sweeter.

3 It s been a long year. We ve been through a lot, Kimbrel said in the haze of the visitor s locker room in Houston, where he d just notched his third save of the ALCS, the last one clinching Boston s trip to the Series. To have a chance to do this in my professional life is great. Everything at home has been going great as well. She s doing unbelievable. To be able to share this with her, to be able to go to the next round and share that with these guys, it s special. Think about it. Those rocky postseason outings where Kimbrel repeatedly loaded the bases, working himself in and out of trouble, testing the patience and nerves of even the most ardent Red Sox fans? They re nothing compared to the many uncomfortable nights sleeping on a hospital couch. Those hard-hit balls, home runs, and close calls that left viewers sweating in exasperation? Nothing compared to the worry, stress, and fear of an ill child. Revelations of tipping pitches that allowed Kimbrel to adjust his delivery and make his last outing his best? Barely a ripple compared to lessons in perspective already well taught. What he s done this season, it s impressive, friend and fellow bullpen teammate Heath Hembree said after the team s workout Saturday. From his own personal standpoint, he s obviously been through a lot this past year. Even early on, going back to last year, when we knew what he was going through and what was ahead of him, we were here for him. We stuck by his side. We kept in touch with him all offseason and making sure everything was good. And then spring training, he had a lot of stuff going on then. It was just support for him, whatever he needed from us, just being a brother for him. Kimbrel s teammates wore We Are #LydiaStrong T-shirts under their spring training uniforms while he was back in Boston with the family, his manager Alex Cora kept his bullpen spot and locker waiting for him, and when he rejoined the team for good on March 19, he was overwhelmed by their support. That meant everything, Kimbrel said that day in Fort Myers, Fla. Knowing I m away and knowing everyone down here is having me and my family on their minds. This is my family as well. We spend more time with each other than we do with our own families, and we re going to be going through this the entire year, so having their support and having them behind me to get together and to do something like [those T-shirts], it was great. Locker room dynamics can make for volatile chemistry, a tenuous mix of personalities and egos, of stars and also-rans, of all-stars and journeymen. But it is also a group of human beings, ones stuck together for better or worse, with little room for escape. When one is in crisis, they are all affected. Every single body in this clubhouse, what s more important is our family off the field, Hembree said. And you see that when you really look at it, it s just a game. Sometimes I know it s a lot and there s a lot of tension with it and it s easy to get distracted, but at the end of the day when we leave here and get to be with our families, that s what matters. Cora has proven himself quite the alchemist, there for Kimbrel early in the season when family crisis hit, there for him later in the season, too, when shallower baseball minds might have abandoned him out of frustration. Instead, there the manager was, watching the closer celebrate the ALCS title with his wife and daughter, knowing how much it meant for them to have that moment together. Since Day 1 in spring training he s been tough, Cora said. With everything he s been through family wise we rallied behind him. Everything is great now. To see his family all together in Houston and enjoy what is going on was awesome. It s been a different year for Craig. Spring training was different, the first half of the season was different. For him to keep battling and keep working at his craft and stay focused to do the job that he s done all season, it s been amazing. Little Lydia Joy only makes the journey sweeter. She gave this team the gift of perspective. If they can find a way to get those four more wins, what a gift they can give her back. It would be something, Hembree said. It would be good to tell her about it when she gets older and kind of understand what had happened and what s going on.

4 Steven Wright may be added to World Series roster Peter Abraham The Red Sox plan to stay with 11 pitchers on their roster for the Word Series. But one of those 11 could change. Steven Wright threw a simulated game at Fenway Park on Sunday afternoon and ran through some defensive drills to test the soundness of his left knee. Wright faced Tzu-Wei Lin along with assistant hitting coach Andy Barkett and manager of advanced scouting Steve Langone. The Sox did not want any of their active players having their swings thrown out of whack by Wright s knuckleball. Wright was on the roster for the Division Series then replaced by Heath Hembree after one game when he reinjured his knee just hours before Game 1. That was on Oct. 5. Wright has since been able to pitch off the mound several times. We ll see how he reacts [Monday]. We still have until Tuesday to make a decision, manager Alex Cora said. He put himself in the conversation. Now he needs to show us he s healthy. Hembree has thrown 3⅔scoreless innings in three playoff games. He has walked four but not allowed a hit. Brandon Workman has appeared in three games and allowed five runs on seven hits two of them home runs and three walks over one inning. He has faced 13 batters and 10 have reached. Wright had a 2.68 ERA in 24 appearances during the season. Second choice Mookie Betts worked on turning double plays at second base as part of the workout. Dustin Pedroia was on the field with him, giving pointers. The Sox are seriously pondering using Betts at second base when the Series shifts to Los Angeles. Without use of the designated hitter, J.D. Martinez will remain in the lineup in the outfield. Putting Betts at second base would keep either Andrew Benintendi or Jackie Bradley Jr. in the lineup. Bradley has an.853 OPS through nine playoff games and nine RBIs. Benintendi has only a.645 OPS but with three doubles and three RBIs. We ve got to talk about all this stuff, Cora said. There s a chance but it s not like he will. But we have to be prepared. If one day I feel like, Yeah, that makes sense, we ll do it. Cora said it would depend on how the usual second basemen, Ian Kinsler or Brock Holt, match up against the Dodgers starter. There is no fear of Betts injuring himself. He came up as a second baseman and is familiar with the position. Cora also pointed out the preponderance of strikeouts and fly balls generated by Red Sox pitchers. Sox pitchers were 29th in the majors with 88 double-play grounders. That s something we ll take into consideration, Cora said. Three-ring circus

5 Cora has two World Series rings. One was with the 2007 Red Sox and the other with the 2017 Astros, for whom he was bench coach. He does not wear them often. I m more about memories and the journey and the conversations. Just the experience, he said. I m not a big watches, rings, or necklaces guy. I m very simple. Obviously 07 was special, last year was special. I think this year, if we can win four more, that will be the best out of the three. Why? Because I m the manager, Cora said. I was a utility guy and I was the bench coach and now I m the manager. Very simple. Cora was on the roster throughout the postseason in 2007 but had just one plate appearance. He got a bunt down in the eighth inning of Game 3 that led to Mike Lowell scoring. He appeared in four games in all, playing seven innings in the field. Sale is set Chris Sale continues to make progress. He ll be ready to go, Cora said. From September, this was the plan all along and happy he s going to be able to go out there and perform. Sale jokingly told reporters on Saturday he was hospitalized last week because of an infection from a belly button ring. He was actually out with a stomach illness... The Lakers host the Nuggets on Thursday, an off day for the Series. Several of the Sox players are working on tickets. Whoever wants to invite me to see the Lakers, that would be great, Cora said.... The Sox had a table set up in the clubhouse so the players could work efficiently at signing several dozen boxes of baseballs. He is the man. Tim Hyers is smack in the middle of the Red Sox-Dodgers series Alex Speier At the All-Star Game, Dodgers first base coach and former Red Sox minor league instructor George Lombard crossed paths with Mookie Betts. The topic turned to Red Sox hitting coach Tim Hyers, with whom Lombard worked in both organizations. [Betts] said, George, he is the man. From everything he told me, guys love him over there, Lombard said at the All-Star Game. It sucks for us, because we lost such a good person, but happy for [Hyers] to advance like that in his field and to be loved by everyone. As the Red Sox prepare to face the Dodgers in the World Series, the decision a year ago to hire Hyers away from the Dodgers (for whom he spent the 2016 and 2017 seasons as assistant hitting coach to Turner Ward) represents both an easily overlooked aspect in the making of Boston s path to the World Series and a potentially significant asset in the Red Sox efforts to beat Los Angeles in the Fall Classic. Hyers is in his first full season as the Red Sox hitting coach, but when the team tabbed him for the role, it brought in a familiar presence whom several players knew well. As the Red Sox minor league hitting coordinator from , Hyers worked with Xander Bogaerts, Jackie Bradley Jr., Mookie Betts, Andrew Benintendi, Rafael Devers, and Christian Vazquez as they made their way through the farm system. When Hyers went to visit several of those players over the offseason, it represented the continuation of a relationship rather than a new one. He was part of these guys development. It s not just him showing up, observed Yankees bench coach Josh Bard, who was on manager Dave Roberts s staff with Hyers in Los Angeles. He had the relationship with Andrew and with Mookie and all those guys. It s pretty remarkable what they ve done.

6 However, the conversations Hyers had with players when he returned to Boston were very different than the ones he had as the team s hitting coordinator. In the span of two years, the game had changed or, at least, the way that the game was discussed had changed. Statcast had popularized data-driven concepts spin rate, exit velocity, and launch angle, among others that were no longer viewed with distrust if not outright contempt by players. In Los Angeles, an organization with one of the most far-reaching commitments to research, analytics, and data-driven concepts, Hyers received an exposure to the game s new language. So the way he discussed hitting proved eye-opening for his new/old players. You could tell that he s gotten a different knowledge of what hitting is all about, said Bradley. All of those things he s discussing now, it comes back to how much information we have now with analyzing spin rate, vertical angle of the pitcher, the movement. We have all this information now. He s able to speak more fluently with what we need to hear and what allows us to make an adjustment mentally. For Hyers, the opportunity to work with the Dodgers front office and Ward gave new words to ideas he d long held about hitting. Yet in a way, the most significant influence for Hyers was Justin Turner. Much like J.D. Martinez, the Dodgers best hitter remade his swing and his offensive approach to transform from a marginal big leaguer who almost signed a minor league deal with the Red Sox in 2014 to one of the best pure hitters in the game. The way Turner discussed hitting, and the way Dodgers hitting consultants Craig Wallenbrock and Robert Van Scoyoc (the duo with whom Martinez worked in the offseason to remake his career) analyzed swings, were revelatory for Hyers. He became comfortable with a different hitting vocabulary. At the same time, with Turner and some of the other Dodgers players, his eyes were opened to the amount of information that players were comfortable absorbing as part of their efforts to game-plan for opposing pitchers. There were some [Dodgers] players that wanted more information. You presented information and they were like, We got this. We want some more, said Hyers. Justin Turner was a big influence on me, how he changed his career, changed his swing. He s such a good communicator about the swing. He saw things a different way. There are some guys I met out there who changed the vocabulary a lot, put some pieces together. Hyers also saw players who, at times, got overwhelmed by the information he and Ward tried to provide. There was an art to game-planning, not only to discovering patterns in what pitchers were doing and their vulnerabilities but also to figuring out how much an individual player could digest in the batter s box. A meal loses its luster if eaten to the point of illness. In Los Angeles, Hyers discovered that there was no end to the potential courses he could serve, but that there were times when a third dessert did no one any good. How does an organization give information out without giving [players] too much, where it really hurts their progression? Hyers wondered. How you do that, I think, is the next wave of coaching. It s there. Players want to know it. How do you simplify, not get so technical that they lose it by the time they get to the batter s box? How do you simplify the important things so they can understand and so it can be usable in a game without killing the athleticism, the reactions, and the flow of their natural ability? The search for that balance and the eagerness to translate information into the terms that best resonate with individual players have been part of a Red Sox hitting culture that drew raves for its game-planning both en route to leading the majors in several offensive categories (including runs) during the regular season and that took a sledgehammer in the ALCS to an Astros pitching staff that had been the big leagues best during the regular season. With the Red Sox, Hyers and assistant hitting coach Andy Barkett have played a significant role in striking that balance and helping to translate information into terms that best resonate with individual players.

7 Hyers and Barkett aren t alone. Based on his experience with Turner, Chase Utley, Corey Seager, and others in Los Angeles, Hyers gained an understanding of the power of player-to-player conversations about hitting, something that he s welcomed and fostered with the Red Sox. Hyers is comfortable deferring to the perspective of players like Martinez, Mitch Moreland, and Mookie Betts in hitters meetings, knowing that no information is more valuable than that coming from a player who has actually seen the action of an opponent s pitches. Hyers is also considered gifted in taking data about those pitches and translating it. He doesn t merely say a pitcher features a two-seam fastball. He lets hitters know that if a certain righthander starts it on the armside edge of the plate it will reach the plate in the middle, the sort of detail that helps hitters to narrow the lanes where they re looking for pitches. Now, Hyers has a chance to help shape the Red Sox pursuit of four more victories. He possesses intimate knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses of most of the Dodgers players from his two years in LA, so much as Red Sox bullpen coach Craig Bjornson (who d been with Houston before this season) proved an asset in how the hitters game-planned for the ALCS, Hyers has a chance to contribute to the pitching staff s preparations for the Dodgers. Obviously I know their hitters really well, said Hyers. I ve been gone a year, and hitters do change. Some of the information I have is useless, but I know some things that possibly can help out to create some game plans to help us win. * The Boston Herald Plenty of rest for not-weary Red Sox as they prepare for World Series opener Jason Mastrodonato Rest, or rust? Among the many questions heading into this year s World Series, this is one the Red Sox have been hoping to answer favorably since spring training, when they drastically cut back their starting pitchers workload in exchange for expected freshness in September and October. But the Sox didn t need to press the issue with their starters in September, when the American League East title was comfortably in their hands. As for the Dodgers? They ve been scrapping and clawing the entire year and never had the luxury of extra rest. They entered September tied for the National League West lead, and they ended the month the same way. It took a 163rd game to decide the division in their favor. They played two more games in the NL Championship Series than the Red Sox did in the ALCS. Slight advantage, Red Sox? I don t know, said manager Alex Cora. Sometimes, like in 07, the Rockies had (eight days) in between the World Series (and the NLCS). We had to fight all the way to the end (of the ALCS) against the Indians, and then that happened (the Sox swept the Rockies). One thing for sure, we will be prepared. I think that the off days will benefit us, especially in the bullpen. That rest is going to help them out. But I don t think Dave (Roberts, Dodgers manager) is complaining. They re here. They knew that it was going to be a tough series against the Brewers. They had to play 163 to win the division and all that stuff. At this time, it really doesn t matter how you get there. They ll be ready for (tomorrow). We will be, too. Let s see what happens.

8 When the World Series begins tomorrow night at Fenway Park, Clayton Kershaw will have pitched in a meaningful game just three days earlier. Chris Sale will be on nine days rest. Sale has a career 1.67 ERA on extra rest. Kershaw has a 2.33 ERA when pitching on short rest in the playoffs. But it s been a long seven weeks for the Dodgers starting rotation. From Sept. 1 through the end of the regular season, Dodgers starters threw 1,995 pitches, 618 more than the Sox starters in that time, a difference of 45 percent. Most of those pitches were thrown by Kershaw (541) and budding ace Walker Buehler (585). And since the postseason began, Kershaw (272 pitches), Buehler (250) and Hyun-Jin Ryu (222) have continued to carry a heavy workload. Only Justin Verlander (289) threw more than any of the Dodgers three starters. By comparison, the Sox have had it easy. Coming back from a shoulder injury, Sale threw just 233 pitches in September and 192 in October. David Price threw 374 pitches in September and 215 in October. These guys are ready to go. Sale has the added benefit of missing his ALCS Game 5 start, though he did have to overcome a stomach illness. I think everything works out for a reason, and Game 5 happened and he gets a few more off days so he can take care of his belly button and he ll be ready to go, Cora joked. He s been our guy since Day 1. Obviously the other guys did an outstanding job, but him pitching Game 1, it s something we mapped it out through September. This was the plan all along. In his last outing, Price saw his velocity spike to an average of 94 mph and touch 96 mph, the highest it s been since June. Kershaw, who averaged 94 mph in his prime but 91 mph all year, has sat around 91 mph this postseason, though he averaged 92 mph in his relief appearance in the ninth inning of Game 7 to close out the Brewers. There s little doubt the Red Sox are better rested. It s just a matter of how well that rest transfers to the mound when the lights flick on come tomorrow night. For the bullpens, it s been about even. Both teams rely on their starting pitchers, but they ve done it differently. The Dodgers have used only Rich Hill to start and pitch out of relief (other than Kershaw s inning vs. Milwaukee) while the Sox have used three of their four starters in both roles. The Dodgers trio of Kenley Jansen, Ryan Madson and Pedro Baez threw 72 more pitches than the Sox trio of Craig Kimbrel, Ryan Brasier and Matt Barnes in the month of September, but the Sox trio has worked slightly more in October. This one is about even. Do the position players have an advantage of being well-rested? I don t know, said second baseman Ian Kinsler. You can look at it both ways. It s however you want to spin it. The Dodgers are playing games right now, we re not, so we can be rusty. Or we re getting rest and we re not as tired, so we re going to be ready to play. Anyway you want to twist it. The bottom line is come (tomorrow), whichever team executes the best is going to win.... To us, it s just about winning games. Rest or no rest, it doesn t matter.

9 Alex Cora, Dave Roberts boost World Series minority report Michael Silverman The day before the World Series Game 1 lineups are revealed, before Chris Sale throws the first pitch, and before Hall of Fame-bound Clayton Kershaw throws his first-ever pitch ever at Fenway Park, take a moment to acknowledge a different kind of first. Note that neither of the series managers, Alex Cora of the Red Sox and Dave Roberts of the Dodgers, are white: Cora is from Puerto Rico and Roberts is half-black, half-japanese. The non-caucasian complexion of the two managers is a first for a World Series, and to point it out is not an injection of race in sports: It s a celebration of many races in all sports. It should be celebrated, I do believe so, I do, said Cora yesterday in the Red Sox dugout. I don t think it should be the topic of the World Series but it s part of it. Factor in, too, that this is a matchup that kicks off in a ballpark with a newly named Jersey Street instead of Yawkey Way, and a matchup between the standard-setter in integration (the Dodgers) and the laggard in integration (the Red Sox), and you have more reminders that the discussion about race in the U.S. is far from over. Cora, for one, is happy to keep that talk alive. We talked about it with the Jersey Street change there s a history there, said Cora. What the Yawkey family and the Yawkey Foundation have done through the years, that s been amazing. History has two sides, a good one and a bad one. It s what you do with history. You learn from it, whether it s positive or negative and I think we ve done an outstanding job turning the page. At the moment, Cora is consumed with devising a battle plan to top Roberts and the Dodgers. But in his first season as the first minority manager in Red Sox history, Cora has not shied away from or forgotten who he is and where he is from. He spoke out last month and called President Donald Trump s tweet that the Democrats were inflating the death toll from Hurricane Maria disrespectful. Cora understands Red Sox history and he understands U.S. history. Just because he s been tied up since January getting this team to this point does not mean he has shed or forgotten his identity is wrapped up in more than a baseball uniform. I ve been pausing and reflecting the whole season I just don t limit myself, said Cora. I know what it means for us, I know what it means to my colleagues who are minorities. I ve got so many texts, so many people telling me I m so proud and this is going to open the door I don t know, man. I don t know if that s going to happen because in the end I m not the owner of the team and they re going to hire people they feel that are capable. It s a big platform, and this platform is not only to manage these men to the World Series, there s other stuff that comes into play. We saw it a month ago, and you saw the reaction when I talked about what happened back home with Trump. I was just defending my country, man. I said, I respect Mr. Trump, I know they did a lot but was that enough? I don t know. But I had to. It s a huge platform. I represent a lot of people on this platform. It s great, I accept the challenge. Cora would not be the first Latino skipper to win a World Series Ozzie Guillen of the White Sox won in 2005 and Roberts would not be the first African-American manager to earn a ring Cito Gaston won back-to-back titles in

10 But in a sport that was not integrated on the playing field until 1947 by Jackie Robinson, there was not a Latino manager until 1969 (Preston Gomez, Padres) and it took until 1974 for an African-American manager to be hired (Frank Robinson, Indians). Tomorrow night Cora and Roberts, former Dodgers teammates, will shake hands at home plate in a stadium on Jersey Street during team introductions. It s symbolic, said Cora. Nobody thought Dave Roberts was going to be the guy over there and he got the job and he s doing an outstanding job. Cora has spoken out before about the challenges of Latinos getting managerial jobs. I said it many times before I got hired, the whole process is a tough one because you have to interview a minority (according to MLB rules) if I m an owner, I interview who I really want, who I feel is capable of running the team, said Cora. I don t limit myself, I don t say I m a proud Puerto Rican. I know I m a minority but I see myself as somebody capable of running a big-league team. I think the process is a tough one. There are a lot of capable guys. You go through it. Like Omar Minaya, he talks to me a lot. He says, You re managing but the best manager in the Cora family, he s coaching third for the Pirates (Cora s brother Joey). Whatever Sandy Alomar, there are a lot of guys throughout the years, people think that they re capable and they re not managing at this level. Blake Swihart stays ready to go Rich Thompson Red Sox utility player Blake Swihart is prepared to be an improbable hero in the World Series. Manager Alex Cora all but predicted it during a press conference prior to batting practice yesterday at Fenway Park. Game 1 of the best-of-seven Fall Classic between the two historic franchises gets underway tomorrow night at Fenway. Blake hasn t played and he s a huge part of what we are trying to accomplish, said Cora. He can pinchrun, he can pinch-hit, he can come in and catch or play first or play the outfield. Everybody has a role and it all depends on where the game goes. Every night somebody can step up and somebody can be that guy. Swihart played in 82 games at multiple positions in the winningest regular season in Red Sox history. Swihart had 44 hits in 192 at bats with 28 runs, 10 doubles, three homers, six steals and 18 RBI. Swihart was limited to one at bat in the Red Sox ALDS victory against the Yankees, and he never saw the field in the ALCS triumph over the reigning world champion Houston Astros. Swihart hopes to get his moment at Fenway, but figures his best opportunities will come when the scene shifts to Los Angeles. Swihart has reinvented himself for situational baseball, which is more prevalent in the National League. I really think so and especially in the National League park when we head out there, said Swihart. All year long I ve been staying ready, and whenever I m called upon I will be ready. Whatever the situation, wherever (Cora) needs me, I ll be ready. You never know when your moment is going to be, so you have to stay prepared and be ready. That my job and that s the situation I ve been in all year, so I ll be ready.

11 Dodgers manager Dave Roberts achieved improbable hero status as a member of the Red Sox in the 2004 ALCS against the Yankees, when his steal of second kickstarted the improbable comeback from 0-3 down to win the AL pennant. He is a hero here in this city and he s a great guy, a great family guy, said Cora. Cora s moment, which was far less dramatic than Roberts, came as a member of the Red Sox in Game 3 of the 2007 World Series laying down a sacrifice bunt that helped score Mike Lowell in the Sox 10-5 victory. In my case I only have one World Series at bat and it was a sac bunt, said Cora. Mikey stole third and scored on a sac fly. I felt great. I only took one swing in the World Series and I feel like I accomplished something. I was part of the equation. * The Providence Journal Many common threads run through Red Sox and Dodgers Bill Koch BOSTON These next two days might feel like a return to his University of Miami days for Alex Cora. That assumes Hurricanes baseball players were diligent students during Cora s time on campus in the 1990s, of course. Final exams have arrived for the Red Sox manager and his coaching staff in the form of the Dodgers, as the National League champions will visit Fenway Park for Game 1 of the World Series on Tuesday night. Los Angeles outlasted the Brewers in a grueling best-of-7 series that stretched to its limit, and Boston had the pleasure of kicking back and watching the last two matchups at Milwaukee s Miller Park. The Red Sox earned some time off after dethroning the defending champion Astros in just five games in the American League Championship Series, so Boston should be both rested and prepared by the time the season s most critical moments arrive. They do a good job mixing and matching, Cora said about the Dodgers. They ve got two different lineups against lefties and against righties. Their rotation is pretty solid. They ve got a great closer. They do a lot of things running the bases and all that. It s a tough team relentless. The common threads between the two franchises are many. Cora, bench coach Ron Roenicke and first-base coach Tom Goodwin were all drafted and developed by Los Angeles, making their respective major-league debuts with the club. Hitting coach Tim Hyers was with the Dodgers in each of the last two seasons as an assistant, including 2017 when L.A. lost to Houston in another classic seven-game series. They don t stop playing, said Cora, who won a ring at the Dodgers expense as the Astros bench coach. When you get to this level, when you re the last two teams standing, from Pitch 1 all the way to the last pitch of the game, you re going to keep pushing and putting good at-bats and executing pitches and playing good defense. We expect that out of them. Dave Roberts will require no introduction when he leads Los Angeles out of the visiting dugout on what could be a frigid night in the Back Bay. The Dodgers manager authored perhaps the most famous stolen base in Boston history in 2004, that coming in Game 4 of the A.L. Championship Series against the

12 Yankees. Roberts scored the tying run on a Bill Mueller single and the Red Sox became the first team in the sport s history to overcome a 3-0 deficit on their way to a long-awaited first championship in 86 years. Great guy great family guy, Cora said. A friend of mine. I ve been pulling for him for a while. He s done an outstanding job with an outstanding organization. I m very proud that he s here in the World Series. Cora and Roberts were teammates with Los Angeles when Roberts was dealt to the Red Sox for minorleaguer Henri Stanley. The Dodgers were in contention in the N.L. West but elected to sell prior to July 31, moving veterans like Roberts, Juan Encarnacion, Paul Lo Duca and Guillermo Mota. Cora said Roberts was initially disappointed after learning of the trade from Dodgers manager Jim Tracy but quickly found a valuable niche with his new club. We felt that we had something special going on, Cora said. I still remember, I told him, Hey man, you re going to a great baseball city. You never know what can happen. Just enjoy the ride. He came here, he stole that base and that night I texted him. Right after he stole second base, I was like, I don t know what s going to happen here. But if this happens, you re going to become a hero. And he is here in this city. Roberts steered the Dodgers to their 23rd N.L. pennant, the 11th since relocating from Brooklyn after the 1957 season. The Dodgers and Boston count just one World Series meeting in their rich histories, that coming in 1916 when the Red Sox finished off a 4-1 dusting of the then-robins at Braves Field. Boston asked for and was granted permission to play its home games at the 40,000-seat ballpark, which was located on land currently owned by Boston University. Manny Machado and Rich Hill figure to be received in differing fashions by Red Sox fans this week. Machado, the long-time Orioles infielder, spiked Dustin Pedroia on an ugly slide into second base and was thrown at by both Matt Barnes and Chris Sale early last season. Hill, the veteran left-handed pitcher, parlayed a brief stint with Boston in 2015 into a one-year contract with the Athletics and his current threeyear deal with Los Angeles. It s a complete team, Cora said. They play with energy, too. Dodger Stadium will be loud. The weather will be great. It should be a great World Series. Red Sox Journal: Wright works out; could be added to Series roster Bill Koch BOSTON Alex Cora played in two games and had just one plate appearance. Bobby Kielty saw one pitch and took one swing. Both players were at the back end of the Red Sox roster in the 2007 World Series against the Rockies, but each found a way to contribute to Boston s four-game sweep. It s that perspective Cora is hoping to impart on some members of his current team ahead of Tuesday s Game 1 with the Dodgers at Fenway Park. Blake Swihart was the lone position player who didn t make an appearance in the American League Championship Series against the Astros. Pitchers Eduardo Rodriguez, Heath Hembree and Brandon Workman combined to record just six of the 135 outs made by Houston over five games. Everybody has a role, Cora said. It all depends where the games go. I feel like every night somebody can step up, and somebody can be that guy.

13 Cora dropped a sacrifice bunt in the ninth inning of Game 3 against Colorado, moving Mike Lowell to second base. Lowell stole third and scored on a Jason Varitek sacrifice fly in a 10-5 victory. Kielty jumped on a Brian Fuentes fastball and crushed a solo homer to left field the following night in Game 4, the eventual winning run in the 4-3 clincher. They understand, Cora said. Everybody is all in. Everybody has a role regardless of if you re starting or if you don t even play. You have to pay attention to the game. Cora said the Red Sox are likely to carry 11 pitchers and 14 position players for the third straight series. The lone change under consideration appears to involve whether or not Steven Wright will be healthy enough to take the mound at any point. Wright took part in a simulated game on Sunday at Fenway Park, covering first base on infield grounders with a slight limp due to recurring soreness in his left knee. We ll see how he reacts tomorrow, Cora said. We ve still got until Tuesday to make decisions. He put himself in this conversation now, so he needs to show us he s healthy. Not only today we ll see how he reacts tomorrow. Playoffs affect strategy The Dodgers represent a more traditional opponent than the Brewers would have in terms of pitcher usage. Milwaukee s starters completed just 20 1/3 innings in the National League Championship Series, falling short of averaging three innings per outing. Wade Miley pitched to just one batter in Game 5 before returning to make a second straight start in Game 6, with manager Craig Counsell attempting to force Los Angeles into some lineup gymnastics. It s more interesting, Cora said. It is. There s so much information now that you can actually exploit weaknesses on the team and not only rely on your starters or your usual setup guy or your closer. Somebody the last few years figured out there are a lot of off days in the playoffs. You can actually use your starters as relievers or go with your relievers for multiple innings. It s fun as a baseball fan. Cora declined to consider employing an opener or handing Game 5 against the Astros primarily to the bullpen. What he has done is use starters such as Rick Porcello and Nathan Eovaldi as bridges to closer Craig Kimbrel on their off days. Porcello threw the eighth inning of Game 2 against Houston and Eovaldi fired 1 1/3 innings in the clincher. Just watching Rick Porcello come in the eighth and throw four-seamers and curveballs and the emotion he showed, that was fun to watch, Cora said. Then to see Nathan throwing 102 (mph) against (Alex) Bregman, that was cool. I know the fans, they loved that. Checking the matchups The Dodgers could deploy six left-handed starting pitchers if the series reaches a Game 7. Clayton Kershaw, Rich Hill and Hyun-Jin Ryu could all be in line to take the ball twice for Los Angeles against Boston. Right-hander Walker Buehler started Game 7 against Milwaukee and will also be in the mix. That could shape the Red Sox lineup at several positions, but Cora is leaving the door open to all possibilities. Strict platoon decisions would call for Steve Pearce at first base over Mitch Moreland, Ian Kinsler at second base over Brock Holt and Eduardo Nunez at third base over Rafael Devers, but Cora made a point of saying it won t be that simple. There are going to be a lot of meetings, a lot of thinking and mixing and matching, Cora said. It doesn t mean that because they re throwing all the lefties that our lefties are not going to play.

14 Cora and his staff have good reason to take a second look. Kershaw (.562 to.576) and Hill (.675 to.678) are only slightly tougher on lefties over their careers in terms of OPS, while Ryu has extreme reverse splits left-handed hitters check in at a.773 OPS while right-handed hitters total just.662. Holt (.708 to.704) and Devers (.758 to.761) have relatively neutral splits while Moreland (.676 to.780) handles right-handers at a far superior clip. * MassLive.com Alex Cora jokes Boston Red Sox ace Chris Sale 'gets few more off days so he can take care of his belly button' Christopher Smith BOSTON -- Chris Sale said Saturday without even a smirk that irritation from a belly button ring caused his stomach illness. "Just kind of constantly taking it in and out, causing irritation," Sale said. "Got a rash down there. So I had to take care of that. Doctors and nurses over at MGH were awesome. So you know, things happen and you handle them and you keep moving forward." Sale was joking. He told reporters, including The Chicago Tribune, in 2015 he fractured his foot "fighting off an intruder in his home." That was a white lie. Sale is set to start Game 1 of the World Series vs. the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday here at Fenway Park. He threw a bullpen session Saturday. "He's good to go," Red Sox manager Alex Cora said Sunday. "He's our Game 1 starter. I think everything works out for a reason. "Game 5 happened and he gets a few more off days so he can take care of his belly button," Cora added, smirking. "And he'll be ready to go." A stomach illness caused Sale to stay overnight at Mass. General Hospital last Sunday into Monday. He lost weight and felt too weak to pitch Game 5 of the ALCS. David Price started on three days rest and closed out the series with 6 shutout innings. "I stay away from it," Cora said about Sale's belly button. "Yeah. Yeah. But he's ready to go. Excited to pitch Game 1. He's been our guy since day one. Obviously the other guys did an outstanding job. But him pitching that game, we map it out through September. This was the plan all along. Happy that he's able to go out there and perform." Sale spent two stints on the disabled list, totaling 37 days with shoulder inflammation during the second half of the regular season. His velocity dropped each start in September after his return from the disabled list Sept. 11. The real issue isn't Sale's belly button. It's velocity and command of his slider. He showed better velocity in his ALDS start vs. the Yankees. He averaged 94.6 mph and topped out at 96.6 mph with his four-seam fastball. But his four-seamer averaged 92 mph and topped out at 96 mph during his ALCS start vs. the Astros, one day before he ended up in the hospital with his stomach illness. He threw his four-seamer as low as 88.8 mph in the start.

15 Cora has yet to decide the order of his World Series starting rotation behind Sale. "We'll talk about it today," Cora said. It seems likely David Price will start Game 2, followed by Nathan Eovaldi in Game 3 and Rick Porcello in Game 4. Boston Red Sox 2018 World Series roster: Alex Cora likely to take 11 pitchers, Steven Wright decision pending Christopher Smith BOSTON -- The Red Sox took 11 pitchers and 14 position players for their ALDS and ALCS rosters. Red Sox manager Alex Cora expects to do the same in the World Series. Cora said he feels comfortable with 11 pitchers in the World Series, which begins Tuesday here at Fenway Park. The Red Sox play the Dodgers. "With us it's not about the pitching staff," Cora said Sunday here at Fenway Park. "It's about what we do offensively and how aggressive we are in the catchers' spot. Most likely we'll stay the same. We still have to talk about it. And we're going to talk about it after the workout with Dave (Dombrowski), the front office and the analytical staff. But most likely it will be the same roster as far as 11 pitchers." The final two roster spots likely will come down to Heath Hembree, Brandon Workman and Steven Wright. Mookie Betts practices double play flips at second base during Boston Red Sox World Series practi... Wright will receive one of those two spots if he proves he's healthy the next two days. The World Series between the Red Sox and Dodgers begins Tuesday here at Fenway Park. Wright needs arthroscopic surgery on his left knee. But he's waiting to undergo the procedure in hopes of pitching in the World Series. The Red Sox placed him on their ALDS roster but they removed him after Game 1 because of knee soreness. He was ineligible for the ALCS after being removed from the ALDS roster. The knuckleballer will throw a simulated game at Fenway Park here Sunday. He'll also participate in pitchers fielding practice. "We'll see how he reacts tomorrow," Cora said. "We've still got until Tuesday to make a decision. So he put himself in this conversation now. So he needs to show us he's healthy. Not only today but see how he reacts tomorrow." Ace Chris Sale will start Game 1. Cora has yet to decide the order of his rotation after Sale. Mookie Betts downplays extra work at second during Boston Red Sox World Series workout, 'If the time comes, I'll be ready' Christopher Smith BOSTON -- Red Sox star Mookie Betts, a former second baseman in the minors, routinely takes grounders in the infield before games. But he did some extra infield work Saturday here at Fenway Park. He took grounders during infield practice, then returned to the infield during batting practice to work on double play flips.

16 Red Sox manager Alex Cora didn't rule out the possibility of Betts playing second base in Games 3, 4 and 5 of the World Series when the Red Sox are without a DH in the NL park. Game 1 is here Tuesday. The Red Sox will play either the Dodgers or Brewers. "That's kind of what I do all the time," Betts said about his infield work. "If the time comes and that happens, it's just what he (Cora) decides to do. He hasn't steered us wrong so no reason to not trust him." Asked about the extra infield work here Saturday, Betts downplayed it. "That's because there's nothing else to do and I don't want to go home right now," Betts said. "There's nothing to do at home. That's strictly because I'm bored and just to be around and enjoy myself." He said that's the same reason he was working on double play flips. "Got nothing else to do," Betts said. "Nobody's at first (to throw to). Mess around.... If the time comes, I'll be ready. "I'll be ready for whatever," Betts added. "Gotta do anything to get the ring. That's the most important thing." Betts played six innings at second base in an emergency Aug. 3. It marked his first time playing there since "Probably be excited, nervous, too," Betts said about the possibility of playing second base during the World Series. "Just one of those things that you have to do whatever it takes to go in." * RedSox.com Red Sox to start Sale in Game 1 of World Series Ian Browne BOSTON -- As of Sunday, the only thing that Red Sox manager Alex Cora had decided for sure about his starting rotation was that ace Chris Sale will start Game 1. David Price started Game 2 in each of the first two rounds, but Nathan Eovaldi has been arguably Boston's best starting pitcher in this postseason. Rick Porcello is the other starter in Cora's four-man October rotation. Sale continues to feel better by the day, a week after he was hospitalized with a stomach illness. "He's good to go," Cora said. "He's our Game 1 starter. I think everything works out for a reason, and Game 5 [of the ALCS] happened and he gets a few more off-days so he can take care of his belly button, and he'll be ready to go." The "belly button" comment was a joke in reference to Sale mockingly saying on Saturday that his stomach problem was related to a belly button ring causing irritation. "But he's ready to go," Cora said. "He's excited to pitch Game 1. He's been our guy since Day 1. Obviously, the other guys did an outstanding job, but him pitching that game, it's something we mapped out through September. This was the plan all along. Happy that he's going to be able to go out there and perform." Cora faces familiar foe in 'relentless' Dodgers