The Red Sox will get the ball rolling on a goal for the 2024 season Tuesday afternoon at Fenway Park.
The series opener against the Baltimore Orioles marks the home opener for Boston, which kicked off the campaign with a 7-3 West Coast road trip. Two days before the highly anticipated day on Jersey Street, an honest Alex Cora vocalized a clear emphasis on the Red Sox needing to play better at home this season.
"We've been horrible at home since 2019 to be honest with you," Cora told reporters Sunday, per MassLive. "I think we were good in 2021. But in 2019 we were bad. And the last two years we've been bad. For us to accomplish our first goal, which is to make it to the playoffs, we've gotta play better (at home)."
Boston only posted two records above .500 at Fenway Park in the last five seasons. The best clip was a 49-32 mark in 2021, the year the Red Sox came within two wins of reaching the World Series.
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Cora explained how Boston utilized the main field at JetBlue Park more often across spring training this year to simulate action at Fenway Park. And in addition to wanting to see better performances from the Red Sox at home this season, Cora clearly wants to reestablish a standard for visiting clubs.
"We haven't made Fenway uncomfortable to the opposition in a while," Cora told reporters. "It's awesome, man. I love it. 'Sweet Caroline' in the eighth and all that stuff. But, man, when you're down seven, 'Sweet Caroline' doesn't sound great, to be honest with you. The fan stuff, there's a lot of fans from the opposition. That happens because people enjoy going to Fenway. If I'm from California and my team is gonna play at Fenway, I'm going to circle that and I'm going to go to Fenway Park. I'll go to Yankee Stadium. I'll go to Wrigley Field. That works against us at certain times. We know in October, it's a different story. But for us to get to October, we've got to play better in the regular season."
Boston's upcoming schedule will present a large sample size to see if its offseason prepration for life at Fenway Park paid off. The opener against the O's marks the start of a 10-game homestand for Cora's side.
Featured image via Jayne Kamin-Oncea/USA TODAY Sports Images
