Red Sox Notebook: ALCS matchup with Astros is ripe with storylines

Well, well, well, what do we have here?

The Houston Astros locked up their spot opposite the Red Sox in the American League Championship Series on Tuesday, meaning Major League Baseball will get a matchup for the ages with Red Sox manager Alex Cora returning to Houston for a playoff matchup against the team that threw him under the bus just more than a year ago.

Most of the Astros’ hitters walked free in the sign-stealing scandal that shook the sport before the 2020 season, but it was Cora and Carlos Beltran who were painted as the masterminds, with both losing their jobs as big league managers following MLB’s report.

“Witnesses consistently describe this new scheme as player-driven and, with the exception of Cora, non-player staff, including individuals in the video replay review room, had no involvement in the banging scheme,” commissioner Rob Manfred wrote in a report released on Jan. 13, 2020.

Cora lost his job, as did A.J. Hinch, leaving the Astros in the hands of veteran skipper Dusty Baker, a three-time Manager of the Year who is still looking for his first World Series title.

Now Baker’s team is being accused of cheating, with White Sox reliever Ryan Tepera saying the Astros were making contact more frequently at Minute Maid Park during the ALDS. Tepera told reporters Houston has a “reputation of doing some sketchy stuff over there,” and noted that the swings were different at home vs. on the road.

Baker responded by pointing out the team had perfectly symmetrical home/road splits this year.

With a matchup between the Astros and Cora’s Red Sox, expect neither team to accuse the other of anything, given it’s a touchy subject for both of them

Cora got the last laugh in 2018, when he defeated Hinch’s Astros 4-1 in the ALCS and celebrated on Houston’s home field.

But since Cora was rehired by the Red Sox this year, the Astros have kicked him around. Houston is 5-2 against the Sox this year, out-scoring them 42-25.

Likely Game 1 starter Framber Valdez dominated in back-to-back starts against the Red Sox in June, throwing 14-1/3 innings while allowing just two runs and collecting 18 strikeouts over the two games.

And likely Game 2 starter Luis Garcia went seven innings of one-run ball striking out six against the Sox earlier this year.

For the Red Sox, Nathan Eovaldi got ripped to shreds for five runs on 11 hits in 5-2/3 innings vs. the Astros this year.

And nobody could forget Chris Sale’s last playoff start in Houston in 2017, when he gave up seven runs over five innings in Game 1 of the ALDS.

Experience matters

The Red Sox and Astros are two teams ripe with playoff experience, particularly in their starting lineups.

Alex Verdugo and Christian Arroyo are playing in their first postseason, but the Sox’ other seven starters are veterans in October, with the following playoff numbers:

Kyle Schwarber: 101 plate appearances, .294 average, .994 OPS

Kiké Hernandez: 167 PAs, .248 AVG, .838 OPS

Rafael Devers: 75 PAs, .308 AVG, .925 OPS

Xander Bogaerts: 153 PAs, .239 AVG, .701 OPS

J.D. Martinez: 105 PAs, .315 AVG, .968 OPS

Hunter Renfroe: 47 PAs, .233 AVG, .716 OPS

Christian Vazquez: 64 PAs, .267 AVG, .685 OPS

Cora said of Devers, “It seemed like he was born to play in October. He did it in ’18, and then this year (his home run in) that last game of the regular season set the tone for the team to keep going and keep pushing.”

Hernandez said Devers is part of the reason why he decided to sign in Boston in the offseason.

“When I signed here and I looked at the roster and I started looking at their pages and their profiles as far as their stats, and I was like — I was beyond impressed with our third base side of our infield,” Hernandez said. “I was like, ‘how come nobody talks more about these two guys?’ Like these numbers are ridiculous. Like nobody’s talking about them.”

Youth on the mound

The Rays started two rookies in Game 1 and Game 2 of the ALDS, so the narrative of Tampa relying heavily on young pitchers made sense, but these numbers were interesting:

Average age of Red Sox’ five most-used pitchers in ALDS: 27.4.

Average age of Rays’ five most-used pitchers in ALDS: 30.5.

An unexpected coach

Arroyo had a key bunt to advance the eventual game-winning run into scoring position in the ninth inning on Monday, then told WEEI that Jose Iglesias gave him some key advice in that at-bat.

“When I went to bunt with two outs and I popped out (in Tampa), the next inning Iggy sat down with me and said, ‘Hey, when you bunt, you move your back foot a lot,'” Arroyo said. “That at-bat (Monday), I said, ‘Do not move your back foot at all. Stay in line. Get the bunt down and do what you got to do.’ As soon as I put the bunt down the only person I could think of was Jose Iglesias.”