Alex Cora and the Boston Red Sox are taking it slow with their prized top prospects.
If Cora sticks with his current strategy, left-handed hitters Marcelo Mayer and Roman Anthony won't see many at-bats against southpaws during their rookie seasons. The Red Sox manager has mostly benched Mayer against left-handers since his big-league promotion, and Anthony was lifted for pinch-hitter Rob Refsnyder in the 11th inning of his MLB debut Monday against the Tampa Bay Rays.
Before Tuesday's game at Fenway Park, Cora explained why he prefers to sit Mayer and Anthony against left-handed pitching, citing lefty mashers Romy Gonzalez and Rob Refsnyder as his go-to options in those scenarios.
"The lefties here are real lefties," Cora said. "There's stuff here, especially the guys in the bullpen. I truly believe that if you've got stuff, you're gonna be here. You're not gonna be in Triple-A or Double-A. So what they see here is different. ...
"What Romy (Gonzalez) has done the last year and a half, he's been amazing. Even yesterday, Ref (Rob Refsnyder) went into my office and he's praising Romy like, 'Man, this guy's the best against lefties.' ... 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-in to win. We will keep doing that."
