It’s pretty remarkable that the Red Sox sit at five games over .500 considering the lineups they’ve had to trot out this season. Craig Breslow readily admits that Alex Cora is playing a big part in getting them success.
The Red Sox have been just decimated by injuries this season. Rafael Devers, Trevor Story, Vaughn Grissom, Triston Casas, Nick Pivetta and Garrett Whitlock are among those who have missed time so far, yet Boston hasn’t been a doormat – far from it, actually.
Guys have stepped up when the Red Sox needed it. Wilyer Abreu has been a revelation in the outfield, Ceddanne Rafaela is beginning to take off, and the pitching staff has been among the best in baseball.
How long the Red Sox are able to keep this up remains to be seen. But April ultimately was a month that tested their resolve, and they responded admirably. Breslow, the Red Sox chief baseball officer, credited the manager in an appearance on The Greg Hill Show on Thursday.
“(He deserves) a ton of credit,” Breslow said of Cora. “I think it would be really easy to look at the injuries – and specifically who has suffered from those injuries – and kind of think it would be really difficult to overcome those, and that the odds are just stacked against us. Instead, I think the complete opposite has been true.
“There have been unheralded guys who have stepped up and contributed to wins, whether that’s Cooper Criswell, or last night, Dom Smith, who had been in a Red Sox uniform for all of a couple of hours, getting a big RBI knock. I think that is a credit to Alex and his ability to create a really positive and strong culture and connect guys and relate to them and get them to believe in what we’re trying to do here.”
Of course, this all comes amid uncertainty about Cora's future in Boston. He is in the final year of his contract, and the team has made clear that Breslow -- who inherited Cora as his manager -- will make the decision on whether the team wants him back. Both Breslow and Cora have taken the position that Cora's future is a discussion for a later date.
Breslow recently has made some minor moves to try to help stabilize things, adding Smith, Garrett Cooper -- who already is injured -- and Zack Short over the last few days. Ultimately, getting core guys like Pivetta back will go a long way in giving the Red Sox a chance to compete this year, but so far they’ve proven to be a resilient bunch.
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