The Alex Cora Managerial Decision Thread

[Emp9]

How much of that did they get from the Sox?

 

Quarter Billion?

[Dalas21000]

Of course Bradley gonna come thru in the 8th inning.....Couldn't just play Benintendi and give yourself a better chance to win?

[Dalas21000]

Cora likes to make these games interesting

[oldtimer]

His choice of lineup in game 4 is the next decision point. If Rich Hill pitches, we will start a right handed lineup.

 

Without looking at batting order for now I would assume that the following guys will play:

 

1st Pearce

2nd Holt or Betts

SS Bogaerts or Holt

3rd Nunez

LF Martinez or Beni

CF JBJ

RF Betts or Martinez

C Leon

P Sale or E-Rod

 

Probably Vaz is tired out. Can't see going back to Kinsler. Devers was a sucker for pitches out of the zone high. Moreland wasn't looking good at the plate at all. Swihart hasn't had a lot of appearances but certainly is more rested.

[Dalas21000]

I would have had Benintendi in Center yesterday....I don't understand how you can bench Benintendi in a big game like that

[oldtimer]

I would have had Benintendi in Center yesterday....I don't understand how you can bench Benintendi in a big game like that

 

iT WAS A TOUGH CHOICE FOR CORA

[notin]

iT WAS A TOUGH CHOICE FOR CORA

 

Without Bradley, the Sox lose in 9...

[notin]

His choice of lineup in game 4 is the next decision point. If Rich Hill pitches, we will start a right handed lineup.

 

Without looking at batting order for now I would assume that the following guys will play:

 

1st Pearce

2nd Holt or Betts

SS Bogaerts or Holt

3rd Nunez

LF Martinez or Beni

CF JBJ

RF Betts or Martinez

C Leon

P Sale or E-Rod

 

Probably Vaz is tired out. Can't see going back to Kinsler. Devers was a sucker for pitches out of the zone high. Moreland wasn't looking good at the plate at all. Swihart hasn't had a lot of appearances but certainly is more rested.

 

Moreland and Devers were both desperate to pull pitches all game. Their swings looked awful...

[sk7326]

This was not Cora's finest game tactically. His aggression was laudable, but I was surprised they did not directly double switch Leon in when Rodriguez game in ... and allowed them to not use Swihart as the first guy off the bench. It seemed like they could have put off running out of hitters a bit. It was a miracle with such a desperately thin lineup they still extended the game to the 18th.

[Fan_since_Boggs]

It was one of the worst managed games that I can remember in a long time. Vasquez and Leon back-to-back in the lineup. Pitching to Puig. The Vazquez bunt with Leon on deck.

 

Also, the decision to go all in with a 2-0 series lead may cost the Red Sox game 4. They can't seriously start Pomeranz, can they? If the Red Sox really believe in Pomeranz, maybe they should have used him rather than Eovaldi, saving the latter for game 4. If the Red Sox don't really believe in Pomeranz, and that seemed to be the case last night, what is he doing on the roster?

Edited October 27, 2018 by Fan_since_Boggs

[Bellhorn04]

It was one of the worst managed games that I can remember in a long time. Vasquez and Leon back-to-back in the lineup. Pitching to Puig. The Vazquez bunt with Leon on deck.

 

Also, the decision to go all in with a 2-0 series lead may cost the Red Sox game 4. They can't seriously start Pomeranz, can they? If the Red Sox really believe in Pomeranz, maybe they should have used him rather than Eovaldi, saving the latter for game 4. If the Red Sox don't really believe in Pomeranz, and that seemed to be the case last night, what is he doing on the roster?

 

I'm quite sure they don't want to use Pomeranz at all. They might use him for a LOOGY situation. Why is he there? Because Wright isn't healthy and the only other option was Workman who has also been awful lately.

 

If they brought in Pom instead of Eovaldi last night's game would have been over a lot quicker, that's for sure.

 

If Kinsler makes that play we're up 3-0.

[sk7326]

It was one of the worst managed games that I can remember in a long time. Vasquez and Leon back-to-back in the lineup. Pitching to Puig. The Vazquez bunt with Leon on deck.

 

Also, the decision to go all in with a 2-0 series lead may cost the Red Sox game 4. They can't seriously start Pomeranz, can they? If the Red Sox really believe in Pomeranz, maybe they should have used him rather than Eovaldi, saving the latter for game 4. If the Red Sox don't really believe in Pomeranz, and that seemed to be the case last night, what is he doing on the roster?

 

The Vasquez bunt was fine ... it was a great play. I mean they needed to push a run across and getting to 2nd and 3rd with one out was a good idea. Now Cora made some mistakes to have the team left - Eovaldi pitching a billion innings was not idea, but the time you get to the 16th or something a pitcher was going to have to do this.

 

I think they held Pomeranz back knowing they needed a starter today. Today is clearly a bullpen game - if Pomeranz can get through the lineup once that will be a victory.

[Bellhorn04]

E-Rod has thrown 9 pitches since Oct 17. He should be able to start tonight.

[Fan_since_Boggs]

Starting Sale in game 4 would seem like a panic move to me. I would start E-Rod. Even if the Red Sox lose game 4, they have the advantage in the series with two remaining in Fenway and a rested Sale, Price, and Porcello ready to go in games 5, 6, and 7 respectively.

[vegasbob]

Without Bradley, the Sox lose in 9...

 

Correct, same eventual result and Eovaldi ready for today or tomorrow. JBJr messed that up or was it Kinsler in the 10th and 13th ?

[Bellhorn04]

Correct, same eventual result and Eovaldi ready for today or tomorrow. JBJr messed that up or was it Kinsler in the 10th and 13th ?

 

f*** off STORK.

[vegasbob]

f*** off STORK.

 

You are a complete self proclaimed f***ing genius , like some of your other NE centric shitheads.

[sk7326]

E-Rod has thrown 9 pitches since Oct 17. He should be able to start tonight.

 

i think that is possible too - clearly it's one of those two. Amazingly - because of Eovaldi's brilliance, the bullpen should be more or less okay to go tonight. If Rodriguez and/or Pomeranz can get them through 4 innings in good shape we'll be fine.

[Bellhorn04]

You are a complete self proclaimed f***ing genius , like some of your other NE centric shitheads.

 

f*** you, you're a scumbag troll posting under multiple names.

[Fan_since_Boggs]

This piece has it right, IMO:

 

In Game 3 of the Fall Classic, Cora’s aggression burned him, and it burned him badly.

 

Cora went to his bullpen earlier than he should have, taking the ball out of Rick Porcello’s hands after 61 pitches over 4 2/3 innings pitched. Porcello had given up just three hits.

 

That’s when the game got out of hand for Cora. His repeated mismanagement of the double switch butchered his lineup and depleted his pitching staff unnecessarily.

 

There was no coming back from the mess that he made.

 

Cora failed to double switch when Eduardo Rodriguez took over for Porcello, forcing a pinch-hitter for Rodriguez after facing just one batter.

 

By the time the ninth inning ended, the Red Sox had already used seven pitchers, including David Price on one day of rest.

 

Heath Hembree, with a fresh arm, went only one inning in extras, despite the pitcher's spot in the lineup not coming into play at that time in the game.

 

But for some reason, Cora pulled Hembree before he was forced to, and unnecessarily double switched Sandy Leon and Mitch Moreland, putting the pitcher’s spot third in the order and removing Moreland from the game.

 

He made the move to go all-in with his Game 4 starter, Nathan Eovaldi, a decision that would have worked had Ian Kinsler made a routine throw to first on Yasiel Puig's should-have-been game-ending grounder to second in the 13th inning.

 

Many will argue that Puig never should have hit in that spot with the light-hitting catcher Austin Barnes on deck. No matter who was hitting, there's no excuse for Kinsler. Cora is not to blame for his second baseman's series-altering error.

 

But let’s be clear: had the Red Sox won with the nine players they were trotting out in extra innings, it would’ve been nothing short of a miracle. By the time the game was over, Cora had a lineup of Betts, Bogaerts, Eovaldi, Kinsler, Holt, Nunez, Bradley, Vazquez, and Leon.

 

Going all-in to win with that lineup is insanity. That’s not even a lineup Cora would trot out in Fort Myers in February.

 

He willfully, consciously, and deliberately removed Moreland and Martinez in favor of Leon and Kinsler, and somehow only got Andrew Benintendi, a .500 hitter in the series, one measly at-bat in a game in which some hitters got eight.

 

That’s managerial malpractice.

 

Now, the Red Sox will have to deal with a pitching staff in shambles and a suddenly competitive series. Eovaldi is cooked. It’s hard to see Price working again in Game 4. The complexion of the series has changed completely.

 

The manager gambled again, this time in a ballpark with different rules that he couldn't handle.

 

He may have gone all-in one too many times.

https://985thesportshub.com/2018/10/27/mccarthy-game-3-marks-coras-worst-moment-as-red-sox-manager/

[Bellhorn04]

This piece has it right, IMO:

 

There's some serious ******** in there IMO. Such as about Benintendi. We all knew either JBJ or Benintendi would be sitting. As it turned out JBJ was our offensive star.

[Bellhorn04]

And how the hell is it Cora's fault that the top 5 in the lineup were 0 for 28?

 

The game was not lost by the manager.

[dgalehouse]

Cora has been great. Crazy things happen when you score just two runs, one of them a fluke , in eighteen innings. If you want to find any fault, I suppose you could legitimately question pitching to Puig with Barnes on deck and the tying run on second with two out.

[Jasonbay44]

My only real complaints are a bit nit-picky regarding Cora last night. I didn't like pitching to Puig, but to be fair, it would've worked out if Kinsler could field his position.. I also really don't like taking JD out, and not having Beni be the guy to replace him. Beni only having 1 AB last night was bad, especially with Moreland, Pearce and JD being out of the game.

[FredLynn]

And how the hell is it Cora's fault that the top 5 in the lineup were 0 for 28?

 

The game was not lost by the manager.

 

THAT-the fact that our heavy hitters went 0 for 28-is why we lost. Its not going to happen again. That said, Moreland was what-0 for 5? Pearce reached base with a BB in his only appearance. Moreland is

 

Less Moreland today

Even less tomorrow.

[a700hitter]

My only real complaints are a bit nit-picky regarding Cora last night. I didn't like pitching to Puig, but to be fair, it would've worked out if Kinsler could field his position.. I also really don't like taking JD out, and not having Beni be the guy to replace him. Beni only having 1 AB last night was bad, especially with Moreland, Pearce and JD being out of the game.

Last night I complained about some of Cora's game moves, especially that we were left with a late inning spring training lineup in extra innings. Before Max goes all Mrs. Cora on me, I am thinking more clearly now than in the heat of the moment. Nothing Cora did blew up on us. He started Bradley over Beny and that turned out to be a good move. Bradley had the best offensive night of any of our players. The pitching decisions were aimed to win and we almost did, but for Kinsler's error. I didn't agree with pinch running for JD. That was probably my biggest peeve, and probably the only really legitimate bad move that Cora made because it deprived us of several JD ABs and replaced it with Kinsler ABs. That might have the one bad decision that cost us the game. I would not have pitched to Puig, but that didn't blow up in his face, because Puig's hit should not have score the tying run. After that, Cora did a good job in the extra innings with what he had.

[moonslav59]

Last night I complained about some of Cora's game moves, especially that we were left with a late inning spring training lineup in extra innings. Before Max goes all Mrs. Cora on me, I am thinking more clearly now than in the heat of the moment. Nothing Cora did blew up on us. He started Bradley over Beny and that turned out to be a good move. Bradley had the best offensive night of any of our players. The pitching decisions were aimed to win and we almost did, but for Kinsler's error. I didn't agree with pinch running for JD. That was probably my biggest peeve, and probably the only really legitimate bad move that Cora made because it deprived us of several JD ABs and replaced it with Kinsler ABs. That might have the one bad decision that cost us the game. I would not have pitched to Puig, but that didn't blow up in his face, because Puig's hit should not have score the tying run. After that, Cora did a good job in the extra innings with what he had.

 

I agree, and the JD pull was questionable, but I think without the benefit of hindsight, Cora probably expected this...

 

1) A better chance to score with a faster runner, and it almost worked.

2) Better late inning OF defense with Holt moving to LF after the move. (I'd have tried to work it out where Beni stays in the game not Kinsler.)

3) He did not expect 18 innings and 3 more PAs from JD's slot. Nobody figured that.

4) JD running the bases increased the odds of tweaking the ankle.

 

I'm not saying I liked the move, but there were several reasons on the plus side, but hindsight shot down some of them.

[Jasonbay44]

I usually don't like pinch running for one of your best hitters, I wans't even a big fan of doing it for Ortiz/Manny. But last night was a special situation, where I wasn't sure how healthy JD was and figured Cora/JD knew more about that than I did. If JD had stayed in, he would've had to be on that bad ankle for two games worth of innings in one night.

 

But as I said, I didn't like the way Cora only got Beni 1 AB. He should've been saved for a situation where he could've come in for JD, whether it be running or defensive purposes.

[a700hitter]

I agree, and the JD pull was questionable, but I think without the benefit of hindsight, Cora probably expected this...

 

1) A better chance to score with a faster runner, and it almost worked.

2) Better late inning OF defense with Holt moving to LF after the move. (I'd have tried to work it out where Beni stays in the game not Kinsler.)

3) He did not expect 18 innings and 3 more PAs from JD's slot. Nobody figured that.

4) JD running the bases increased the odds of tweaking the ankle.

 

I'm not saying I liked the move, but there were several reasons on the plus side, but hindsight shot down some of them.

Like I said, it was the only move for which he could be criticized. Did it blow up in his face? Not really except to the extent that Kinsler made the subsequent error. That's a reach to blame him for that. The team was completely flat offensively and we still almost won. I don't expect Betts and Bogaerts to set another record for offensive futility. 0 for 7 and 0 for 8 is atrociously bad.

Edited October 28, 2018 by a700hitter

[Bellhorn04]

(Copied from Game 3 thread)

 

I could be wrong, but it seems like the move of pinch-running for your slugger backfires more often than it works out.