Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00Sorry that we're not going to come out of the gates with a softball, but the reality of the season is the reality of the season.
00:04We've all been around sports a long time, and when underachievement occurs or expectations aren't met,
00:11there's usually a fall guy, a shake-up.
00:13We've seen it in baseball already with managers hitting coaches, getting fired.
00:17So I just want to be respectful in asking this, but with the underachievement,
00:21are you and or your staff sort of feeling the pressure in terms of job security?
00:27No, not really.
00:28You know, from my end, you know, I actually don't ask coaches about that, you know.
00:34I just ask them to do their best on a daily basis, but I can answer that question, you know, personally.
00:40No, you know, I feel like every day we go out there, we're doing our best, you know.
00:45It hasn't happened for us, you know.
00:46You look at the season and having conversations with some people this morning, you know,
00:50I was like, man, it's a weird one, right, because it feels like you are in every game, but it's not going your way.
00:55So, you know, this is a tough stretch for us, for me, you know, as a manager, and we just got to be ready for tomorrow.
01:03You know, we've got a big series coming up here in Atlanta, and hopefully we can win two out of three or sweep it and get this bad taste out of our mouth.
01:10Well, obviously, Alex, there's no one special potion, no one button you could press to just make everything turn around,
01:17stop losing the one-run games and making errors and whatnot.
01:20But to me, and I think to a lot of people, it feels like, or at least it seems, the team is pressing.
01:25Everyone might be trying to do a little extra, a little more to try to snap out of this funk.
01:29How do you advise the team, the coaches, and everyone to relax in the face of scrutiny and frustration like this?
01:36Yeah, I don't think the outside pressure, we feel the outside pressure, actually.
01:43The pressure comes from inside, right?
01:45When you look up in the eighth inning, it's a one-run game.
01:47When you look up in the ninth, it's a one-run game.
01:49Extra inning is the same thing, you know, and this is something that we always talk about.
01:53And as a manager, you know, that's something that I keep telling them, you know,
01:57like there's certain times in the season when things are going great that you can run freely
02:03and, you know, try to score from first and try to score from second, seal bases and all that,
02:08you know, try to force plays.
02:10But in this case, when I think every, if you look at it the last two weeks, three weeks,
02:16it seems like every play matters, you know?
02:18So slowing it down is the most important thing.
02:20For example, the other day, that ball that he was hitting the gap, you know, the ball hit the runner,
02:25the runner for third, takes off to the plate.
02:28I think Gunnar Henderson was at second and he went third.
02:31And Marcelo was trying to make a baseball play, right?
02:33In that play, just stop it, right?
02:37Because there's a chance that something bad might happen, you know?
02:40Like, I'd rather have men at third.
02:42And I think it was one out at that point that throwing the ball away, you know?
02:46And the guy scores.
02:47So same situation yesterday with Rafaela.
02:49You know, most of the time we're very aggressive, but he knows with a hit to right field,
02:54when he turns, he's about to turn to third base, he has to pick up the coach, right?
02:58And he did not.
02:59And, you know, he was at third base and Sogi was there too.
03:03So he's an out.
03:04Marcelo the other day with the fly ball to right field, you know, like he has a great arm.
03:09Maybe if we're in a hot streak, you know, you take a chance and you're safe, but not in that moment.
03:14So just keep preaching and keep talking.
03:16And hopefully the guys, you know, can breathe a little bit.
03:19And do less instead of more.
03:23Excuse me, Alex.
03:24I'm, you know, a few days ago, it was Rob Rushnider.
03:27He had some comments that were self-critical of the team and just kind of for the first time,
03:32I really, really a player just kind of blunt statements about the current state of the team.
03:36Do you have any just thoughts on that?
03:38And when an older guy comes out and says things like that, what is your thoughts on that?
03:43I thought it was great.
03:44Just being honest with everybody.
03:46I think you guys deserve that.
03:48The fan base deserve that, right?
03:51And I think he was talking for the group.
03:54You know, he's a veteran guy.
03:55He actually had a good two at-bats there.
03:58And they went straight to him.
04:00And he was honest.
04:01You know, he was blasting people.
04:02You know, it's just the group.
04:04You know, we have to be better at what we do.
04:05You know, and it's not early.
04:07I've been saying that.
04:08You know, like, it's not early.
04:09You know, it's the first third part of the season.
04:14We have play.
04:15And we're playing under 500.
04:17We have fallen behind by a lot of games in the division.
04:20Obviously, there's a lot of ways to make it to the playoff.
04:22But, you know, if we're going to talk about the playoff, we just have to play better.
04:26You know, and I think the first goal is to get back to 500 and, you know, start winning more games.
04:32You know, the 6 out of 10, 7 out of 10 is always good.
04:35And we haven't done that in a while.
04:36Red Sox manager Alex Cora here with us on WEI Afternoons.
04:39Last week, Alex, when we talked to you, it was before the crochet start.
04:43It was in the midst of the bullpen being sort of shorthanded.
04:47And you kind of talked to us about maybe needing your ace to go deep into the game.
04:51And then as it played out, you ended up pulling him in the sixth after one out and 85 pitches.
04:56And that seemed like an example, and Craig Breslow was asked about it today,
05:00where, you know, the organization makes a decision on a guy.
05:04And I'm wondering, when Breslow and others come to you in those situations before the game,
05:08whenever it is to talk about a player or an opportunity, are those directives?
05:13Are those marching orders?
05:14Are those suggestions?
05:15And then you kind of work with it.
05:16How do those decisions come about?
05:19No, the crochet one, obviously, I'm going to go public before the game, right,
05:22and say, hey, he has 85 pitches, you know,
05:24because obviously the opposition is going to game plan against you.
05:27That decision was made before.
05:29It comes from medical staff.
05:30Obviously, the front office is part of it.
05:32And going into that outing, we knew, you know, that it was going to be short.
05:36You know, like I said, you know, my job is to help the team, you know, find ways to maximize the roster and win as many games as possible,
05:44but also keep the guys fresh, you know.
05:46And he was leading the league in pitches, right, and innings, and we felt before that start, you know,
05:52that he needed a blow.
05:54And he did an outstanding job, and he wasn't the reason we lost the game, right?
05:58We didn't finish the game.
06:00And I think the next start, he went 105 pitches, you know, he's a full go for his next one.
06:07Now we're going to take advantage of the schedule.
06:09So I think it's a combination of everything, right?
06:11The medical staff, the front office, and obviously putting the calendar together.
06:17And I think now, with the benefit of the off days, we're in a full go with him,
06:21knowing that at one point we're going to do the same thing.
06:24Alex, I was the one who suggested last week that maybe Crochet could throw his first complete game in the majors,
06:29and you laughed and looked at me and said, wouldn't that be great?
06:31I feel like you broke my heart, Alex.
06:34An 85-complete game.
06:37He's not Greg Maddox.
06:38Yeah, it's hard, you know, and decisions like that, obviously, you know,
06:43I think it's more for the benefit of the player, understanding.
06:47And you don't want to tell him that either, you know,
06:49because maybe, you know, he tries to do stuff that he's not done in the past, right?
06:56Pitch contact, don't strike people out, kind of like tone it down velocity-wise.
07:02So he did his best, and like I said, we just didn't finish the game.
07:06Alex, first base guy here.
07:07I got to ask the obligatory first base question, and you suggested a couple days ago that maybe Christian Campbell
07:13will maybe see some playing time at first base against this Atlanta series.
07:18Any more thoughts on that?
07:20Do you see him playing sooner rather than later at first?
07:24Yeah, there's a good chance he's going to play Sunday at first base.
07:27You know, he looks, you know, in practice, obviously.
07:31He looks more comfortable going to his right, to his left.
07:36We've been talking about decision-making, and as you guys know, it's not that easy, right?
07:40You saw it yesterday.
07:41You know, Soge has played first base most of the season.
07:45There was a grumble to his right that he went far, right?
07:48And it was a routine grumble to second baseman.
07:50He tried to make the play.
07:51Obviously, Slayton didn't cover.
07:53He was late, and they got men first and third.
07:55So we understand what we're trying to accomplish here, and we know that there's going to be some mistakes,
08:02but we're going to take our chances, you know, and he feels better at it, and there's a good chance it's going to be Sunday.
08:07Alex, the most popular player or name in Red Sox Nation right now might be Roman Anthony.
08:13I know you're aware of that, but just in your view, why is Roman Anthony, the way he's playing, not on your team right now?
08:19And have you been advocating for him to get the call-up?
08:23No, we've been having conversations, and, you know, like before the season, we knew at one point Campbell was going to be part of it.
08:30It just happened that it was an opening day.
08:33We knew that Marcelo at one point was going to contribute, and he's here already because of injuries.
08:38And I know, you know, at one point Roman is going to be here.
08:40The timing, there's something that as an organization, we're going to decide when.
08:44Obviously, he's doing an outstanding job.
08:46He's getting better, and, you know, he's not knocking on the door.
08:49He's knocking it down, let's be honest.
08:51And when we make the decision, I know everybody's going to be happy, and I know he's going to contribute.
08:56Alex, how do you feel Marcelo Meyer, who was called up, obviously, perhaps maybe not necessarily the way you envisioned,
09:02but that's baseball, how do you feel he has performed to date?
09:06He's been good.
09:08And one of the things that we knew coming into the situation, he's not going to panic.
09:14You know, you see him playing defense at shortstop, playing defense at third base.
09:19He's a natural.
09:19He's a great defender.
09:20He's a great base runner.
09:22And at the plate, I truly believe that his swing is going to play at the big league level.
09:29Kind of similar like Carlos Narvaez, right?
09:33Like when with two strikes, they're willing to hit the ball the other way, which, you know, let him see the ball deeper and make decisions in the strike zone.
09:42And so far, so good.
09:43Obviously, he's going to face some challenges.
09:46You know, we can talk about rookies, right?
09:48And we live in it right now with Christian, right?
09:50He was the best rookie in the big leagues in April, and now he's struggling in May.
09:57So we just have to help him to go through stretches, understanding that they're going to have some, you know, obstacles throughout the process.
10:06And that's what we're here for, to help him to be better.
10:09Alex, I saw you give Trevor Story a little fist bump after his first sacrifice bunt in like 10 years in the game the other day.
10:16Just, you know, look, you know, he's not hitting great, you know, but so he's doing whatever he could do.
10:23But just your thoughts on Trevor with this team and his role, do you see, I mean, you know, do you see it changing much more than what it is right now?
10:33No, we got to get him going.
10:34We have to.
10:35And he knows it.
10:37Obviously, we gave him a day off in the homestand.
10:40I truly, you know, I saw some good things in the series in Milwaukee.
10:46Yesterday, he defeated against the lefty.
10:48He did the same thing before, deeper counts.
10:50We're still missing the fastball.
10:53Yesterday, you know, he put the bunt down.
10:55And, you know, like I always tell these guys, and this is what we talked early in the interview, you know, like less is more, you know.
11:01Probably, you know, a few days ago, he was just thinking about, oh, let me hit this ball hard and pull it in the air and hit a homer.
11:08And at that moment, he felt like that was the right play for the team.
11:11And he did an outstanding job.
11:12So, you know, there's a guy that we circle up in the offseason that he was a big part of what we were trying to accomplish.
11:20We don't have Casas.
11:21We don't have Alex.
11:23And, you know, he knows it's time to step up.
11:26And he's a great defender.
11:28But we need him offensively.
11:29Alex, we saw Ramon Vasquez win a couple games by depleting the bullpen, honestly.
11:34And there's that balance between winning on any given night but looking long-term.
11:40Does that balance change now?
11:42Is there more a sense of an urgency?
11:44I mean, you're nine and a half games back.
11:45Do you maybe need to make decisions more based on winning every single game every night more so than looking long-term?
11:51I mean, as you guys know, the rotation needs to go deeper.
12:00You know, for us to be able to win games and sustain momentum, the rotation needs to do their job, right?
12:08And if you look at the season, we had a great series in Kansas City.
12:12Then we go to Detroit and Tanner struggled on the first day.
12:16We need to use the bullpen.
12:17And then we had two tough games Tuesday, Wednesday, I think it was.
12:21We lost in extra innings.
12:22And that was it, right?
12:23So, yeah, we're going to be aggressive.
12:25I think, you know, having multi-inning guys in the bullpen is going to help us to continue to be aggressive.
12:32But at the end, I'm a big believer that you need the rotation to give you more than four and two-thirds or four innings.
12:38You know, we need at least five.
12:40So, you know, it's sustainable because, yeah, it looks great for two days or three.
12:45But, you know, the bullpen felt it towards the end of the week, and we don't need that.
12:50Will there be any, like, will you guys get to a point sometime soon, Alex?
12:54You feel like where guys won't be limited to 85, 90 pitches.
12:57You know, it seems like Baio was a little frustrated yesterday, obviously, shorter outing for Crochet.
13:02Are we going to get to a point where you're just going to let some of the guys go the distance sometime soon?
13:07Or is it still a...
13:08I think...
13:09Go for it, please.
13:10No, in the case of Baio yesterday, you know, he had, what, 80 pitches in four innings, you know?
13:18That's not efficient, you know?
13:19And basically, it was 50-50, you know, as far as, like, strike throwing and balls, right?
13:24He was behind in the count a lot.
13:26The line looks good, right?
13:28It was one run or two runs, whatever.
13:30But the matchup was a good one for us with Bernie and Yelish.
13:33And we knew that we had Dobbins as a multi-inning guy, you know?
13:37And, you know, we passed the baton all the way to the end, you know?
13:40We just didn't finish the race, right?
13:41So, sometimes it's going to be, you know, medical dictated, right?
13:46Like Crochet.
13:47But then after that, he went 105, whatever it was.
13:50And sometimes it's going to be performance-wise in the matchups and understanding that today was an off day.
13:55And we were going to be able to be aggressive with Dobbins yesterday, just like I've been saying a lot.
14:01And I think too many times, you know, we just didn't finish the game.
14:05Alex, do you see Marcelo Meyer being just a third baseman?
14:09Do you see him ultimately winding up at that position?
14:13Or do you see him maybe somewhere else?
14:16You mean this season or in his career?
14:20Let's say in his career.
14:21I think Marcelo Meyer is going to be a top-of-the-line shortstop, you know, not only offensively but defensively.
14:30He's really good.
14:31And right now, our needs is for him to play third base.
14:34He'll play a little bit of short, also second base.
14:37But, you know, so far so good at third base, man.
14:39He's a natural talent defensively.
14:41He's a kid that I don't know if you guys have talked to him.
14:44But, you know, when you talk to him, you know, the passion that he talks about defense is refreshing.
14:50You know, he understands that for us, to win games, you have to play great in both sides of the ball, right?
14:56Offensively, you have to contribute.
14:58But, you know, if you're not contributing offensively, you've got to take hits away.
15:01And he's been doing that.
15:02All right, Alex, we appreciate you joining us, as we do every week.
15:06I know these aren't the easiest questions to answer right now at this time and the way things are going.
15:10But good luck down in Atlanta.
15:12Hopefully we get this turned around.