Red Sox’s Alex Cora Addresses Recent Polarizing Decision

The Boston Red Sox didn’t have the series they wanted to have against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Boston dropped the last two games of the series against Toronto in disappointing fashion. The Red Sox had a 6-0 lead over Toronto in the second game of the series, but blew it at the end. The next day, the Red Sox held a 2-0 lead late in the contest, but things didn’t work out.

Blue Jays superstar Vladimir Guerrero Jr. clubbed an eventual game-winning homer for the Blue Jays, which made some fans on social media wonder why the team opted to pitch to him. Guerrero, himself, talked about the decision after the game, as shared by WEEI's Rob Bradford.

Manager Alex Cora addressed the question on Friday, as shared by MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo.

"You know what? I thought about it and probably if it’s in the World Series, I would have walked him... and we can’t play them in the World Series," Cora said, as transcribed by Cotillo. ""The walking part of it, I get it,“ the manager said. ”It’s Vladdy Guerrero. We had him 0-2. We didn’t execute pitches after that. There’s a two-way street here. And I get it. Probably, in the ALCS, I’ll walk him. But right now in April and May, I’ve got to trust my guy. I’ve got to give Justin the leeway that he can do the job. And he has been great for us. Yesterday, he didn’t execute three pitches: a 1-2 breaking ball (to Lukes), a 1-2 breaking ball (to Bichette) and a 3-2 breaking ball (to Guerrero). We learned from that. I learned from that, too. Maybe next time we face them, we’ll think about it, right?

"“t’s all about trust right now. We have a lot of young players on this roster. Where we’re going — well, it might be decided from yesterday, we might lose the wild card or division by one game and it’s on me — but I think the way I manage right now, especially with this group, you‘ve got to be very patient because I truly believe this is a very talented team. It’s not like last year where you have to go pedal to the metal and, ‘Ok, pinch hit in the fifth’ or ‘walk this guy’ and try to will wins out there. No. You trust Justin Slaten in that situation. It didn’t happen. That’s being honest with you."

That seems completely fair. This decision is in the past now. The Red Sox got back in the win column on Friday night against the Minnesota Twins. Boston won't have to consider this question again until the next time it faces the Blue Jays on June 27th.

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