Alex Cora Claims Red Sox Rotation Will Be ‘Fine’ Heading Into End Of Season

BOSTON — The Boston Red Sox are in the same state as many other Major League Baseball teams — trying to survive the season down the stretch without the benefit of a rested bullpen.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora said he understands the fans in Boston care about the team, but using only two pitchers as he did in Monday night’s loss to the Houston Astros is common across the league and reiterated that leaving Kyle Barraclough in the game was what was best for the team.

“We should be fine,” Cora said. “… It is what it is and it sucks because you don’t want to put a player in that situation. It’s embarrassing for me because I’m the manager but you have to do things for the benefit of the team. And at that point yesterday, that’s what we had. We’re better today and we should be better tomorrow.”

Cora said the club had two plans heading into the opener against Houston — Chris Sale, Barraclough, Chris Martin and Kenley Jansen or Sale and Barraclough.

“That’s it,” Cora said. “It didn’t happen the way we wanted it to, so we needed to do it that way.”

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The skipper added that playing 16 games in 16 days is hard on any pitching staff, especially if the starters are unable to go deep into their outings.

“I think at the end of the day, it’s not the bullpen, it’s the starters,” Cora said. “If you look around the league, the teams are dominating; their starters are going six and seven (innings). … That’s how it works in the big leagues.”

With guys coming back from injuries and being limited in the amount of pitches they can throw in an outing also has a domino effect on the bullpen.

“It’s very difficult because it’s that balance,” Cora explained. “At the same time, we’re in the business of winning. I’ve been saying this since 2018. When you’re in that chair and those 26 guys and everybody in the organization — we’re in the business of winning.

“But at the same time, you’re not going to jeopardize somebody’s career because we have to win today,” he continued. “That’s probably later on in the year, late September and in October. … That’s the beauty of 162 (games). That’s why people respect the 162. That’s real, it’s a grind and that’s why the season is that long.”

Cora added he’d love to be able to add at least two more pitchers to the roster across the league.

“That’s probably where the versatility of players (is heading),” Cora said. “There’s a lot of guys in the minor leagues now that are doing both, (pitching and fielding). I think with time we’re gonna see more and more of those (players) because they’re going to be very valuable.”