John Farrell knows what it takes to win it all in Major League Baseball.
The former Boston Red Sox manager led the team to a World Series title in 2013, his first year on the bench. His seasons after that, however, didn’t go as well. The skipper saw back-to-back exits from the American League Division Series in 2016 and 2017, prompting him to be let go last October.
Fast forward a year later, the Red Sox are under first-year manager Alex Cora and are on their way to the American League Championship Series after defeating the New York Yankees in Game 4 of the ALDS on Tuesday night. It’s the first time Boston has reached the ALCS since 2013.
With the Red Sox set to take on the Houston Astros in the ALCS, the ex-skipper — who works with the Cincinnati Reds as a scout while also serving as an analyst on ESPN — previewed the upcoming series Tuesday on SportsCenter, and he shared what he believed the series ultimately will come down to.
Take a listen:
It’s hard to argue with his logic.
Both teams’ starting pitching is stacked. Boston boasts Chris Sale and David Price, while Houston has Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole. And as Farrell noted, it will be interesting to see how Cora utilizes his pitchers out of the bullpen.
The fun begins Saturday at Fenway Park when the Astros send Verlander to the mound opposite Sale in Game 1.
