- 4 months ago
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00:00Roman Anthony, what we saw last night, do you have an update on Roman Anthony's status? Is he going on IL?
00:05Yeah, he's going on IL. He has an oblique strain.
00:08Timetable, we don't know. He's a mother one, so usually it takes from four to six weeks.
00:14Just the impact, him not being in your lineup.
00:18Clearly, when he was brought up, he had a major impact, especially in that leadoff.
00:22Just what's he going to mean to not be in your lineup anymore?
00:26Oh, well, he's one of our best offensive players, but it sounds harsh.
00:30But we have to move on, right?
00:31We've got to put that uniform on today and try to win a game.
00:36And we've been through this before, right?
00:38Casas, and we traded Rafi.
00:42There's been a lot of stuff with this team, and we've been able to keep going.
00:45So I expect the group to do the same thing.
00:48So if Roman is indeed out anywhere two, four weeks, who knows?
00:53Would you slide Duran back into the leadoff spot?
00:55Is there somebody else perhaps?
00:57Because Roman seemed to just jive with being in the leadoff spot so well, and the offense
01:01was rolling like that.
01:02Yeah, today's a lefty, so Eden is going to lead off.
01:05I think Duran's hitting sixth or seventh because he's a lefty.
01:09But most likely against righties, we'll get back to Duran leading off and Alex hitting second.
01:14We talked to you a lot about managing the clubhouse, whether it's the trade deadline or trades
01:19earlier in the season.
01:20How do you manage something like this?
01:22Because we're all human beings, and it sucks when you see a teammate that's really good
01:25and plays a really big role in our operation go down.
01:28How do you manage that?
01:29Yeah, I think if you hear Alex's interview yesterday, this is part of the business, right?
01:36Now it's about going out there and winning games.
01:39Don't try to do too much, including him.
01:41We just had that conversation, me and Alex.
01:43So like I said, we put ourselves in a great position to fight for the division, win the
01:49division.
01:49So nothing's going to change.
01:51We're men down, but somebody's going to step up and come here and contribute, and we're
01:56going to be OK.
01:57Derek O'Shea doesn't have his best night.
01:59He doesn't have his best stuff last night.
02:01People, of course, are going to say, well, he hasn't worked this much in his career.
02:05Just your thoughts on his performance last night going forward.
02:09Yeah, I mean, a lot of pitches in the middle of the plate, and they put good swings on
02:14it, you know, and that's going to happen.
02:16It happens to Scoble, it happens to him, and it happens to DeGrom.
02:20You know, they're human.
02:21The cool thing about it is yesterday, you know, he's been picking us up the whole season.
02:27We pick him up yesterday, and now, you know, he'll be ready.
02:31I think his next win is in Sacramento, if I'm not mistaken, but he's healthy.
02:36The stuff was good.
02:37He just made four mistakes, and they took advantage of it.
02:39We have a team in Sacramento?
02:42I know.
02:44But the ERA splits between when he pitches on four days rest versus five days rest seem
02:50semi-significant at this point, and as you're heading towards the postseason, I know nothing
02:53is given yet.
02:54It's got to be earned.
02:56Any further consideration to maybe seeing if you can find some extra rest for him along
03:00the way?
03:00I think the next one, he gets an extra day, and then I don't know schedule-wise if we get
03:05like three more off days, but we'll stay the course like we've been doing the whole season.
03:10Red Sox manager Alex Cora joining us here at Fenway Park and WEI Afternoons.
03:14Let's go in a positive direction.
03:15We were here Friday in the studio.
03:17There was a buzz for Peyton Tolley's debut, and then he not only lived up to the buzz,
03:23maybe surpassed it.
03:23He was better than even I expected.
03:25What did you see from him?
03:26And I know a lot of you had said you didn't think the moment would be too big for him.
03:30It certainly wasn't.
03:31Man, he showed up at the ballpark like around 1.30.
03:34Was he sweaty then?
03:35Because he was sweaty on the mountain.
03:36No, no, no.
03:37But in the clubhouse, I got a message from Chad Tracy, our AAA manager.
03:43He's a guy that, you know, I played with Kevin Brown.
03:46Remember Kevin Brown?
03:47Yep.
03:48Kevin Brown, you know, four days he was a great teammate.
03:52The fifth day he was, you know, he wasn't great, you know?
03:55You needed to stay away from him, don't talk to him, locked in.
03:58That's the total opposite of Tolley.
04:02He's a great guy, great sense of humor.
04:05He was very relaxed through the day.
04:07And, you know, at one point, we were talking about a ring delay.
04:12It didn't happen, you know?
04:13He came to the office like, hey, are we on time?
04:15I'm like, yeah, let's go.
04:17And he went out there like a 6'10 to just take a look at everything.
04:21You know, one of the things I tell these kids, you know, embrace this.
04:24You know, like, there's only one MLB debut, right?
04:28And you have to take advantage of it and just enjoy it.
04:31And he did, man.
04:32Like, that first inning was electric.
04:34I think the fans understood how important it was, not only for him,
04:38but for the organization, you know, what this kid represents.
04:42And, you know, the stuff was great.
04:44Obviously, you know, we got to be careful, you know, with the pitch count.
04:48I think the next one will be in the range of 85 to 90.
04:53You know, when he went out in the 6, I thought about it.
04:56I'm like, man, we're pushing him.
04:57But he was so efficient that we got to go, you know, and it just didn't happen.
05:02So just paying attention to the Indians, paying attention to the pitch count.
05:06Velocity went down a little bit, but nothing too big, right?
05:10And there's a presence.
05:126'5", 250 on that mound.
05:14You know, we got the Beast, you know, and now we got that other Beast, you know,
05:18and we were very happy with the performance.
05:20Well, how about the Beast?
05:21No-brainer to lock him up for another year.
05:24What are your thoughts on getting the role?
05:26The other one, I mean, it's amazing that at his age, what he's doing on the field is great.
05:33But the preparation, you know, is great.
05:36I've been telling you guys, you know, when you go on the road, you know,
05:40I usually go in the mornings for my morning run, he's already sweating.
05:43You know, he's coming back from the gym, and the guy, he's a great teammate.
05:48He's embraced this city.
05:49He loves it here.
05:51And, you know, credit to front office, man.
05:53You don't do that very often, you know.
05:55I mean, he's having a historic season.
05:58Usually they'll wait, you know, test the free agent market and see what happens, you know,
06:02and put pressure on us, you know, to make something happen in the winter.
06:06But he was very vocal about it, and I'm glad that we got it done.
06:10And as far as Peyton Tolley goes, again, looking toward October baseball potentially,
06:16what role could you see him possibly occupying?
06:19Like, because when that happened at that moment, you take him out, I think,
06:21at 80 or 81 pitches.
06:23I was thinking, you know, Weissert comes in, has a tough inning, a winnable game gets away.
06:27But I was thinking at the time, like, you know what?
06:30It's a 2-0 game in October.
06:32That's not Weissert that – you're starting to smile right there.
06:34Like, that's not Weissert that comes in.
06:35That's Peyton Tolley that comes in potentially.
06:37You know, we still got work to do.
06:40And as you guys know, I'm not afraid to be aggressive with the relievers
06:45and the starters in October.
06:47Obviously, his situation is a little bit different because he's still a kid.
06:51But, you know, we're in the business of winning.
06:53And if he's in the bullpen, he's in the bullpen.
06:55If he's as a starter, he's a starter.
06:57But the guy is going to impact this, man.
06:58His fastball plays – you saw the swings.
07:00That's what I pay attention to.
07:02He's a – but he's energy.
07:04He's pure hot.
07:04He loves it.
07:05And, you know, he's a great teammate.
07:08I told him the other day, now you can stay because his first three games,
07:11we were 0-3 since he got here.
07:13And then we won.
07:14I said, now you can stay with us, you know.
07:17Willier Abreu, it seems like it's been a little slower maybe
07:20than anybody had hoped or thought.
07:23Does that put a little more pressure on the outfield
07:25with now Roman Anthony going down?
07:27And is he close, Willier?
07:29Not close.
07:32Feeling better.
07:33But the running part of it is the one that is taking longer than expected.
07:37He can take grounders.
07:38He can hit and do all that stuff.
07:40But, you know, when we get running, then the process is going to speed up.
07:44So hopefully we can accomplish that at the end of the week.
07:47Nathaniel Lowe has been like a different player now that he's come here from Washington.
07:51What do you credit that to?
07:53I mean, Penn and Rays, Fenway, just an opportunity to reset your market probably, right?
08:00He was having a tough season over there.
08:03And, you know, another one from the front office, you know.
08:06We saw an opportunity to add a left-handed bat with experience.
08:10Been there, done that, right?
08:11Will's his champ, gold glover, silver slugger.
08:15The first day he took BP here, and this happened too with Kyle a few years ago.
08:20Left-handed hitter that can pepper the ball the other way against the wall.
08:25It gives you an opportunity to make later decisions.
08:28You don't have to commit to certain areas.
08:31You can let the ball get deep, and you can drive it to left field.
08:35And then when you feel comfortable, then you start driving the ball.
08:39And he's been great for us.
08:41Very happy that, you know, he's performing.
08:44And we'll see what happens, man.
08:45But so far, very similar to Iglesias in 21.
08:51The only difference is, like, if we make it to October, this guy can play in October.
08:55Iggy wasn't able to do that.
08:57So the news broke last Friday right around lunchtime, I believe.
09:00We were here, but we didn't get a chance to talk to you about it, about Walker Buehler and the release.
09:05That must have been kind of tough.
09:06Can you just sort of, like, walk us through how that went down and how it feels now a few days removed?
09:10Yeah, I mean, we try everything.
09:12He tried everything, too.
09:13And I'm glad that he landed with the Phillies.
09:16You know, he's going to be okay.
09:18I think stuff-wise, we talked the whole season that we were getting close.
09:21The thing is the strike throwing, right?
09:23Like, he walked a lot of people.
09:24If you look back, there was an outing in Houston.
09:28He went six innings.
09:30They scored four.
09:31We had two outs.
09:32We walked Caratini, and then Diaz hit a homer.
09:35If he doesn't walk Caratini and gets him out, it's six innings, two runs, and gaining confidence, right?
09:40Because he was coming from the San Diego one.
09:43He goes to Houston, pitches well.
09:45And I bet, you know, from there he was going to take off, but it didn't happen.
09:50Put him in the bullpen.
09:51Jazz hit a homer on a pitch down in the zone, similar to the pitch he hit out early in the season.
09:57And then we have to make decisions, you know.
09:59And he's a pro.
10:00He's a guy that I really respect.
10:02Very, very smart kid.
10:04And I believe he's going to help the Phillies, you know, win a lot of games over there.
10:08We've had some, even going back to last week, yesterday, some, I guess, erroneous reports,
10:12false reports with Kyle Harrison, where we were kind of led to believe he might be starting games.
10:17What's going on with him?
10:18What's going on with these reports?
10:19Or what's that all about?
10:20Yeah, I mean, people come into conclusions, you know, as far as, like, roster and all that.
10:25We're in good shape today.
10:26So we're going in a bullpen day.
10:28And then we have an off day tomorrow.
10:30And then we'll reassess the situation of our roster for Friday.
10:34But we feel like today we can go to Bernie.
10:37We got Matzi for two.
10:38A lot of left-hander hitters in that lineup.
10:41So we'll make some match, knowing that May can go three innings today.
10:45And that's good for us.
10:48You know, we're going to use Maeve in the bullpen today.
10:52And then he'll be back in the rotation next week.
10:54And we'll go from there.
10:56Is Harrison healthy?
10:57Is he an option on the horizon?
10:59He's always been an option.
11:00It just happens that today we felt like, you know what, this is the right way going.
11:04Because we can mix and match with them, with the lefties that we have.
11:07If there was ever a year that Trevor Story needed to have a career year, this would have been the year.
11:11This felt like just a lot of pressure.
11:13That he was putting on himself, expectations.
11:16And he's having it.
11:17It looks like he's feeling it, too.
11:19You know, how he likes to kind of express himself.
11:22Just your thoughts on how Trevor Story's been playing.
11:25Very proud of him.
11:25Very proud of him.
11:27You know how it is.
11:28Like last year, if he was another guy, he would rehab and go home, right?
11:33And he did everything possible to be part of the group, to be part of the team.
11:38And, you know, yeah, we were playing meaningful games in September.
11:42Not really.
11:43But he made a point that I have to finish healthy.
11:46I got to show these guys that this is what a professional athlete does.
11:50You know, you get pay.
11:52You have to play.
11:53And he played in September.
11:54It didn't go well.
11:56But the fact that he played, it was great.
11:58Had a great offseason.
12:00May was horrendous.
12:02But he's been very consistent since that road trip to Milwaukee and Atlanta.
12:07Defensively, he's a plus-plus defender.
12:09Base running-wise, he's elite.
12:11And he's using the whole field, too.
12:13You saw him yesterday shooting the ball to right center.
12:15And he's enjoying it.
12:16You know, he's been in the playoffs once with the Rockies.
12:20We talked about it the other day.
12:21We had breakfast.
12:22It was Alex, Roman, Trevor, and myself.
12:25And he was talking about that game in Wrigley Field against the Cubs.
12:29I think it was a 1-0 game.
12:31And he was going over every play and this and that.
12:34And he wants to get back, you know.
12:35And one thing for sure, and I tell you guys, yesterday, after the sixth inning,
12:40this place was very October-like.
12:42You know, it was very loud.
12:44People having fun, putting pressure on the opposition.
12:47And hopefully, we can continue to play good baseball and make this place magically.
12:50I was watching with the family last night.
12:52And the energy in the household was October-like, especially when you guys go down 7-5.
12:58Like, what happened to Crochet?
12:58But then the offense comes back, incredible eighth inning as well.
13:01And it was huge not having to use Chapman in the ninth.
13:04Yeah.
13:04I mean, whenever we don't have to use him and we're winning games, that's good for us.
13:08Yeah, absolutely.
13:09But as far as that energy goes, you know, when there is an injury, like, you know,
13:13even though he's a rookie, so he's going to play like one.
13:15Who are you going to look to or who are you going to lean on to make sure at no point
13:19do people get down on the team?
13:21Or like, oh, if only Roman were here.
13:23Like, make sure that energy stays up where you've had that pitch for a while.
13:26Yeah, I mean, it started with the interview, right?
13:28I was very honest.
13:29It sounds harsh, like I said, but next.
13:31You know, we have to move on.
13:33We have to be ready.
13:34The guys in the clubhouse, they know that.
13:36You look at that green monster, you see the standings.
13:39You know, that's plenty of motivation to keep going, and we will.
13:43Will Fleming, our buddy, mentioned something on the broadcast yesterday about you guys did
13:46some extra bunting recently.
13:49Yesterday.
13:49Yeah, and early in the year, we were talking a lot about fundamentals and young players
13:53and player development and all those things, and the more you win, the less we talk about
13:56those things.
13:57It's funny how that works.
13:58But the extra bunting, is that with an eye on situational playoff baseball?
14:03What was that all about?
14:04No, it's an eye on September.
14:06And as an industry, not too many teams work on bunting.
14:14And then all of a sudden, in September, there's a man on first and second, in the eighth, and
14:18you want Connor Wong to get it down, but we don't practice it.
14:22And I told Ramon Vasquez, our bench coach, I say, hey, man, we're asking these guys to
14:26do something that we don't practice.
14:28We usually don't practice.
14:30We have to do it.
14:31We have to do it.
14:32And yesterday, there were six or seven guys that we recognized that maybe we will ask
14:36them to do it.
14:37It's the three catchers, Jaron against lefties, Sedan.
14:42Who else was up there?
14:43There was one more guy.
14:45And it's not that we're going to start playing small ball, but when we need it, we're going
14:50to do it.
14:50We won a game early in the month against Houston.
14:53We put pressure on Framberg.
14:55We bunted.
14:55We ran.
14:56We did a lot of good things fundamentally.
14:59So, you know, we just got to be better at that.
15:02And I take the blame for that.
15:03We haven't practiced, and now we will.
15:06Sedan, I just, you know, you look at the night last night, what do you have?
15:10Two hits, four RBIs, a home run, and he plays center.
15:13He plays second.
15:14Is he the ultimate kind of Swiss Army knife for you?
15:17He is.
15:18He is.
15:18And I'm glad that he was able to smile yesterday.
15:21He's been a while.
15:22He's been struggling.
15:23But that was a huge swing yesterday, that homer.
15:26You know, they scored seven of our big guy, and he comes back, gets a hanging slider,
15:30hits it out of the ballpark, and the energy came back.
15:32So very, very proud of him.
15:35I still believe, you know, with time, the struggles in August, and hopefully he doesn't
15:40struggle in September.
15:41But physically, he's going to be a lot stronger in the upcoming years.
15:44I'm not saying he's gaining 30 pounds in the offseason, but he's still playing at 165.
15:49It's very hard to play 162 in that weight.
15:53And, you know, he keeps trying, and he eats, and he doesn't gain it.
15:57And I feel sometimes, you know, the season wears on him.
16:01But like I told him the other day, man, it's September.
16:04We're right there.
16:06Don't think about anything else.
16:07Just win games.
16:08And yesterday, he did an amazing job.
16:10I won't walk into the whole, you know, we're going to trump you up for manager of the
16:13year, given everything that you've gone through this year.
16:15Oh, Jose Espada.
16:16Yeah, although I know when we asked you earlier this season what grade you'd give
16:20yourself, you jokingly said, I always give myself an A, bro, which was one of our
16:23favorite lines.
16:25But is there any consideration maybe to Christian Campbell rejoining the team at any point?
16:30I think everybody's in play, you know, and obviously guys that are in the organization,
16:36they can, you know, if they get here, they can play in the playoffs.
16:38He's doing a better job offensively, controlling the strikes, and there's still a few things that
16:44we want to see for him to keep getting better.
16:47Like we told him, you can hit 500 and probably you won't get back because you're not doing
16:54certain things.
16:55Or you can be hitting 180 and you're doing the things that, you know, we feel like it's
16:59making you a better player.
17:00You might be back.
17:01So there's no rush.
17:03He's doing a better job.
17:04He's playing the outfit a lot.
17:05So we'll see what happens.
17:07Before we let you go, you had one of those fun Fenway moments the other day.
17:10The Trevor Story home run replay, pesky pole, Mike Brenly, I guess a replay of one of your
17:15home runs.
17:16Like that was kind of a crazy situation all the way around, right?
17:19Yeah.
17:19So the night before, they usually they show highlights of the pass in the third or fourth
17:25inning.
17:26And it was my only home run at Fenway.
17:29It was against Doug Holiday.
17:31And it was a fly ball to right field.
17:34And, you know, like it was like 375, you know.
17:37And Alexis Rios bubbled it like four times and the ball went out of the ballpark, right?
17:42And it was a homer.
17:43And the guy saw it, you know, they were like, oh, shoot, you know, that was your only homer.
17:47I'm like, yeah, yeah.
17:48And then that happened.
17:49And Trevor's like, just like you are just like you are.
17:51But we're having fun, man.
17:52We're having a blast.
17:54I think, like I said, you know, when when you come here and you feel dragging or you feel
17:58tired, you know, you go out there at 705 and the fans are here.
18:02They get you going.
18:03They get you going.
18:04The city, you feel it.
18:05You know, the guys have been out there, restaurants, all that.
18:08And it's a lot different than the last three years.
18:11I'll tell you that.
18:12All right, Alex.
18:12Good luck tonight.
18:13We'll talk to you next week.
18:14Appreciate you joining us.
18:16Alex Corr, the manager of the Boston Red Sox here on WEI Afternoon.
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