Alex Cora on pinch hitting Red Sox rookies: ‘The lefties here are real'
Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora has long held a philosophy of pinch hitting for rookies and young players against left-handed relievers or sitting them against lefty starters.
It's something he did with lefties Rafael Devers, Jarren Duran, Triston Casas and Wilyer Abreu over the last few years, finding them pockets as they gain experience in the league. Sometimes he's been passive to a fault, not letting his young lefties gain enough experience.
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Now that he has two of the top prospects in baseball on the big-league roster in Roman Anthony and Marcelo Mayer — both lefties — he doesn't plan to change that philosophy.
Both players started Tuesday with Rays right-hander Ryan Pepiot on the mound. Anthony collected his first big-league hit with a two-run double in the first to help the Red Sox in a 3-1 win. He made a nice sliding catch in the sixth.
Roman's 1st career hit is an RBI-double ✔️ pic.twitter.com/gZssxLsyOr
— Red Sox (@RedSox) June 10, 2025
But with lefties looming on the schedule, Cora is planning to stick to his process.
On Monday night, with the Red Sox trailing the Rays 3-1 in the sixth and Mayer due up at the plate against lefty Garrett Cleavinger, Cora pinch hit for Mayer with Romy Gonzalez, who promptly hit a two-run double to tie the score. On Friday night in New York, after Mayer had hit his first career homer, Cora pinch hit for Mayer with Gonzalez in the sixth with the Red Sox trailing 8-2 and lefty Brent Headrick on the mound. Gonzalez hit a two-run single to make it 8-4.
A similar scenario with Anthony happened Monday night against the Rays. In the 11th inning of Anthony's big-league debut, he was scheduled to come to the plate to lead off the inning with the Red Sox down 10-8. Anthony had grounded out in the ninth to bring the Red Sox within a run before they tied it to send the game to extras. Rather than let Anthony hit in the big spot against a lefty, Cora turned to Rob Refsnyder, who drew a walk. But three batters later, the game was over.
Part of the pinch hitting is the ability of Gonzalez and Refsnyder to hit lefties so well. Entering Tuesday, Gonzalez was hitting .353 with a .950 OPS in 38 plate appearances against lefties. Refsnyder was hitting .279 with a .958 OPS in 55 plate appearances.
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'This is what we do here, right?' Cora said. 'There's going to be lefties that, we're going to hit for them, they're going to pinch hit for other guys. We've got some good pinch hitters here. Romy, that's his job, and Ref, too, so we'll pick and choose. They understand.'
Cora said he spoke with Mayer in New York about the pinch hit situation.
'That's a balance between developing the player and winning the game,' Cora said. 'It felt right there to pinch hit for him. Like I told him, I don't know if it's going to be this season, but at one point in his career, we're not going to pinch hit for him. I made sure to let him know that. Because he's very important in what we're trying to accomplish, he's part of the future and he's a good player.'
Anthony, in particular, hit lefties well in Triple A this season, with a .361 average and .955 OPS in 75 plate appearances. Mayer hit .255 with a .699 OPS in 57 plate appearances against lefties this year for Worcester.
But Cora said it's more about the level of pitching.
'The gap is big. It's very big,' Cora said, making note of the Triple-A schedule in which teams play six straight games against the same team, getting a chance to see pitchers multiple times in a week.
'I think the lefties here (in the majors) are real lefties, there's stuff here,' Cora said. 'Especially the guys in the bullpen, I truly believe that if you got stuff, you're going to be here, you're not going to be in Triple A or Double A. So what they (rookies) see here is different. And we have two of the best (pinch hitters). That's the reality of our roster.'
Cora has by no means been a perfect manager with questionable bullpen moves and in-game decisions. On Monday, in a 6-5 game in the eighth, he pinch hit David Hamilton for catcher Connor Wong instead of hot-hitting catcher Carlos Narvaez.
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'I don't think people here are happy where we're at,' Cora acknowledged. 'This team is supposed to play better baseball and be in the hunt, right? And we're not there yet. So, my job is to try to maximize matchups and help win games. We haven't done that. But I think Romy has done an amazing job. Ref has done an amazing job. And the kids, they understand, they know. I had a conversation with Marcelo in New York, and today I talked to Roman about a lot of stuff, including pinch hitting. They're all into winning. They know. We will keep doing that.'
This weekend, with the Yankees coming to town, the Red Sox may face three lefties in Carlos Rodon, Ryan Yarbrough and Max Fried. Mayer didn't start last Saturday or Sunday against Yarbrough and Rodon. Cora wouldn't say whether the rookies will start this weekend.
'We're trying to actually play the game of how to protect them,' Cora said. 'They don't see many lefties during the game, understanding that there's the pocket up there with Jarren (Duran) and Raffy (Devers). (Teams) bring in the lefties for those guys, then that's good. It's good for us. We'll keep making adjustments and see where we at.'
Cora did note that if Monday's game had been tied in extra innings, Anthony would have hit.
'(Anthony has) seen that guy (Rays reliever Ian Seymour) in the minor leagues before,' Cora said. 'So let him hit, get the guy over, probably pinch hit with Ref later on. You just got to manage the game, play the game.'
The time will come for both Anthony and Mayer to face more lefties, and even though they are top prospects in baseball, Cora wants to ease them into certain situations while giving his team the best chance to win.
'They're very talented and they're here because they have earned the right to be in the big leagues,' Cora said. 'But there's a big gap. There's a big gap.'
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