The Boston Red Sox have one of the deepest and most talented starting rotations in Major League Baseball, and the first person to tell you that probably would be Alex Cora.
While Boston put up astronomical offensive numbers last season, Cora stated the Sox start with their rotation, which possesses two Cy Young Award winners in David Price and Rick Porcello, and another who has finished in the top five in Cy Young voting in each of the last five seasons in Chris Sale.
The Sox’s rotation rounds out with 2018 postseason hero Nathan Eovaldi and Eduardo Rodriguez, who is expected to have a breakout campaign in 2019.
Speaking with Boston Sports Journal’s Sean McAdam, Cora gave high praise to his rotation, and talked about the security the Sox get from such an effective stable of starters.
“It gives you comfort,” Cora said. “You go back to last year … I never felt there was one game where I thought, ‘We need to score a lot for us to stay in the game.’ We felt like, whoever was on the mound, he’s going to give us six (innings) and give us a chance to win.
“We’re one of the lucky ones around the league. I guess probably Houston felt that way last year, they felt that way … Washington, too. It’s a luxury, it’s a luxury. They could be aces in any other rotation, but they’re all together (here). The good thing is if you’re on a losing streak, it’s going to be stopped that day and if you’re on a winning streak, it’s going to continue. That’s a good feeling.”
There’s little doubt that if Boston wants any chance at repeating its 2018 World Series title, the rotation will have to be nails, and if Eovaldi and Rodriguez are able to put together a full campaign that lives up to expectations, you’d be hard-pressed to find a more efficient rotation one through five.
