Alex Cora Sheds Light On Red Sox’s Bullpen Approach For ALDS Vs. Rays

Several teams in the 2021 Major League Baseball playoff field have a clear pecking order coming out of the bullpen.

That’s not the case for the Red Sox.

Boston’s bullpen features a slew of relievers who are capable of being used in a variety of situations. As such, manager Alex Cora plans to be flexible with his ‘pen in the Sox’s American League Division Series against the Tampa Bay Rays.

“We will keep mixing and matching and we’ll try to maximize our roster,” Cora told reporters Wednesday, per MLB.com. “Yesterday, we used Hansel (Robles) in a situation (before the ninth) that we knew he had a chance to face lefties. He did a good job. Whit (Garrett Whitlock) came in there with some matchups that we felt that were good. Tanner (Houck), the same thing. We’ll keep mixing and matching, and we’ll use our starters (in relief) too in this series. We will. So, you know, let’s see where the games take us, and we go from there. “

Boston and Tampa Bay will open the best-of-five set Thursday night at Tropicana Field. NESN will provide pregame and postgame coverage for the opener, which is slated to begin at 8:07 p.m. ET.