Red Sox manager Alex Cora used a position player, Pablo Reyes, to pitch the ninth inning with a 17-0 lead against the Cubs on April 27, 2024. Cora then said after the game that he “hates” the idea of ever using a position player to pitch with any lead.
He did it again Friday in a 19-5 win over the Orioles here at Fenway Park. Cora brought in first baseman Abraham Toro to pitch the ninth with Boston ahead 19-3.
It made sense to do it though because setup man Justin Slaten might now be available to pitch Saturday. It also made sense because of how many innings the bullpen has thrown since last Saturday. Red Sox starters have pitched fewer than five innings in five of the past six games. Starter Brayan Bello pitched only 4 innings here Friday.
Managers often use position players with their teams behind by a lot of runs as a way of saving the bullpen. It’s less common when a team is ahead by a lot of runs — and it can be risky.
Cora did it though after Orioles interim manager Tony Mansolino brought in a position player, Emmanuel Rivera, to pitch during the bottom of the eighth with Boston ahead 11-3.
Rivera replaced left-hander Cionel Pérez who began the bottom of the eighth with Baltimore down 6-3. Pérez gave up five runs without recording an out.
Boston pounded Rivera, scoring eight times on eight hits and two walks against him.
Slaten — who recorded the final two outs in the top of the eighth inning with Boston ahead 6-3 — would have returned for the ninth had it still been a three-run game. But Cora didn’t hesitate to use Toro once the lead ballooned to 16 runs.
“Because of the doubleheader and we didn’t want Slaten to go out in that situation, kind of like hoping he can bounce back for tomorrow,” Cora explained about his decision to use Toro. “They (bullpen) have been pitching a lot since last Sunday. That’s the reality of it. They’ve done an amazing job but we have to take care of them.”
The Red Sox and Orioles were scheduled to play a doubleheader here Friday after Thursday’s game got rained out.
After Cora did his Game 1 postgame media availability, the nightcap of the doubleheader got postponed due to rain. It has been rescheduled for Saturday as part of a day-night doubleheader.
Cora said the initial rainout Thursday likely helped the bullpen.
“It’s hard. We need our starters to go deeper,” Cora said. “I actually thought he (Bello) had good stuff. I truly believe that. There were some long at-bats that went 0-2 to a lot of foul balls. ... The contact wasn’t hard but the at-bats were long.”
The Red Sox used four relievers — Brennan Bernardino, Garrett Whitlock, Justin Wilson and Slaten — before bringing in Toro to pitch the ninth. Toro allowed two runs on four hits and one walk.
“We need the offense to pick it up early or the starter to go deep at one point,” Cora said. “We need that. We’re in a tough stretch now. Yeah, the rainout (Thursday), it actually helped us a little bit.”
