Why Alex Cora Made Sweeping Changes To Red Sox Lineup
The Boston Red Sox decided to roll with a brand new lineup for their series-closing matchup with the Kansas City Royals at Fenway Park on Thursday.
Red Sox manager Alex Cora elected to make sweeping changes to his batting order, as Alex Verdugo (batting sixth) was the only player to hold onto his spot from Wednesday night’s win. Pablo Reyes moved from batting ninth to the leadoff spot, Jarren Duran dropped down to seventh and Rafael Devers is batting second.
Why all the changes? Let Cora explain.
“Trying to maximize Pablo against the lefty, that’s the reason he’s leading off,” Cora told reporters. “It’s tough to manage with the opposition, but trying to get Jarren as many at-bats as possible against a righty. You never know they might bring in a lefty to face him. But you try to to mix and match and see how it goes. Might be right, might be wrong, but this is the way we thought it was going to line up and hopefully it works.”
“Might be right, might be wrong, but this is the way we thought it was going to line up and hopefully it works.”
Red Sox manager Alex Cora on Thursday’s lineup
The Royals are expected to start left-handed pitcher Austin Cox in the finale, which speaks to the decision to drop Duran to the bottom-third of the order. The 26-year-old has an OPS of .859 against righties, but sees that number drop to .782 against lefties. He’s also 1-for-18 in his last five games, but the Red Sox still want to keep him in the order.
Masataka Yoshida will get the night off after being involved in a bizarre play Wednesday, with Devers sliding into the two hole, Adam Duvall batting third in his return to the lineup and Triston Casas hitting cleanup. Trevor Story will serve as DH for the second straight night but will drop from third to fifth in the order. Luis Urías and Reese McGuire will get consecutive starts at second base and catcher, respectively, but will both drop down one spot in the order.
Did you get all that? Good.
You can see whether Cora’s changes work or not when the Red Sox take the field at 7:10 p.m. ET. You can watch the game live on NESN after an hour of pregame coverage.