Red Sox Links: Alex Cora Is Confident

Mar 27, 2023 - 1:53 PM

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Alex Cora has some good things to say about the 2023 Red Sox. “From my end, I bet on my team. Some people call it cockiness, others confidence. I feel this is a good group.” I’m glad he’s feeling good, I really am. But until managers of mediocre teams start saying things like “You know, we’re probably only okay this year. Going to be lucky to finish over .500, to be honest. We have some good players but, man, there’s some real garbage here, too” I’m not going to read anything into these quotes. (Peter Abraham, Boston Globe)

The Red Sox made official what we’ve all known for a while: Brayan Bello, Garrett Whitlock, and James Paxton will begin the year sidelined with injuries. The hope for all three guys is that they could be back by the end of April, though. (Chadd Jennings, The Athletic)

We also know who they’ll be throwing to: Reese McGuire. (Chad Jennings, The Athletic)

It’s pretty remarkable that Chris Sale isn’t one of the injured Red Sox starters, and he feels pretty great about that. (Sean McGuire, NESN)

Speaking of injuries (something we’ve been a lot of around here) Kiké Hernandez left yesterday’s game after being hit with a pitch in the wrist. It’s nothing to be too worried about, though. (Greg Dudek, NESN)

It’s still an open question what uniforms Yu Chang, Raimel Tapia, Connor Wong, and Jorge Alfaro will be wearing on Opening Day. Chang is apparently in good position to make the team, despite having not played a single spring training game. (Christopher Smith, MassLive)

Masatka Yoshida hasn’t gotten many Grapefruit League at-bats, either, but no one is questioning that he made the right decision in suiting up for Samurai Japan. (Ian Browne, MLB.com)