Marwin González put together a noteworthy series against the New York Yankees over the weekend, and Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora was happy to see the versatile utility man excel.
González, who entered Boston’s game against the Miami Marlins on Monday with a .203 batting average, was 4-for-11 in the series against the Yankees. He hit a pair of doubles with two RBIs in Friday’s win and followed it up with just his second home run of the season — a game-tying blast in the seventh inning — during Sunday’s victory.
Cora had a message for the first-year Red Sox contributor after the series concluded.
“I was joking with him yesterday and I said ‘Hey man, now you can breathe because you had a great series versus the Yankees and the people around here now are going to accept you. They’re going to accept you,” Cora said with a smirk during a video conference Monday. “So, happy for him. What he brings to the equation defensively is great. We can move him around. Today, he’s playing third so we can keep (Rafael Devers) off his feet. And I’m just very happy that he was able to perform.”
Prior to the series at Yankee Stadium, González was 1-for-23 dating back to May 18. His batting average fell to .190 on the season after the stretch.
Cora, though, explained how he since has seen González making improvements, and he’s hoping the switch hitter can continue to string together at bats while batting from the left side of the plate.
“I do believe with him it’s just catching up with the fastball,” Cora said. “We do believe his path is more direct now to the ball and he’s been able to catch up to it. When he feels that way then he can cover other pitches, he can look for certain pitches because he’s not afraid he’s going to get beat.”
González was back in the lineup Monday as the Red Sox look to claim a fifth straight win. You can watch Red Sox-Marlins on NESN with Watch NESN Live.
