Alex and his coaching staff
took part in a panel discussion
moderated by Red Sox Club
Historian Gordon Edes during
Winter Weekend. Photo by
Billie Weiss.
Tactical advantages
The reason so many of Cora’s ex-teammates are so sure he will be a
good manager is because they saw first-hand how closely he watched the
game and how astute he was in picking up tendencies from the opponent.
“Oh yeah,” said David Ortiz. “Because he paid attention to all the details.
If you watched the video of when we were playing, he was always just
looking around when he wasn’t playing. This guy is extremely smart.”
If a pitcher is tipping his pitches, Cora will likely spot it.
“Alex was always really good with dissecting small parts of the game,
whether it was a pitcher tipping his pitches, or a guy you could steal on,”
said former Red Sox right-hander Josh Beckett. “He always just watched the
game like that. I didn't think about it and he was always doing it. You look
over at him on the bench and you could tell. He's just thinking about things
differently than I was. I’m not saying Alex wasn't a really talented baseball
player, but that was his edge, to be able to play the game out before it happened
and I think that made him a better player.”
When it comes to offense, Cora has made it clear what kind of tone he
wants the Red Sox to set. He has challenged his hitters to be hunters.
“Offensively, everybody loves the homers,” said Cora. “We get it. But
I think the key of the offense is to have a consistent approach, hunting
pitches you can do damage with. First pitch or a 2-0 pitch. Sometimes a first
pitch available is the one you can do damage on. We want guys to be ready
to hit. That's the most important thing.”
Relying on Ron
When it came time for Cora to find his bench coach, he looked to a man
he had admired since 1997. That was when Roenicke was Cora’s manager for
the Dodgers’ Double-A affiliate in San Antonio. The one thing Cora quickly
learned while playing under Roenicke is that he didn’t miss anything.
“We didn’t have a good team in that Texas League. We barely had
prospects and we ran away with the first half and the second half and
then we won the whole thing,” said Cora. “He’s a guy that is always paying
attention to the game, pays attention to details. He made me realize that
maybe I wasn’t the fastest one but that I could steal a few bases. Or you
2018 SPRING TRAINING EDITION
2018 COACHING STAFF
Ron Roenicke, Bench Coach
Ron was the 3B coach for the Los Angeles Angels in 2016-
17, as part of a 27-year pro career (1991-2017), including
20 on a ML staff, 10 as a manager including 5 in the big
leagues.
Dana LeVangie, Pitching Coach
Dana has spent his entire 27-year pro baseball career, as a
player and staff member, in the Red Sox organization, most
recently as the club’s bullpen coach since 2013.
Brian Bannister, Assistant Pitching Coach
and VP, Pitching Development
Brian returns to the Red Sox for a 2nd season and will
serve in the same capacity as he did in 2017.
Tim Hyers, Hitting Coach
Tim served as the Los Angeles Dodgers’ assistant hitting
coach as well as the director of minor league hitting in
2017. He worked in the Red Sox system for 7 years as a
scout (2009-12), minor league hitting coordinator (2013-
15) and in June 2014 joined the big league club while
hitting coach Greg Colbrunn recovered from a serious
health scare.
Andy Barkett, Assistant Hitting Coach
With 12 years of pro catching experience, Andy joins the
Red Sox for the 2018 season after spending the past 2
years in the Pittsburgh Pirates’ system.
Tom Goodwin, 1st Base Coach and
Outfield Instructor
Tom was the 1B coach with the New York Mets from
2012-17 after serving as a Red Sox minor league coach or
coordinator from 2008-11.
Carlos Febles, 3rd Base Coach and
Infield Instructor
Carlos was promoted to the Red Sox big league club after
11 years with the organization, including 4 as a coach
(2007-10) and 7 as a minor league manager (2011-17).
Craig Bjornson, Bullpen Coach
Craig spent the past 6 seasons working in the Houston
Astros’ organization, including 5 as bullpen coach on the
ML staff (2012, 2014-17).
Ramon Vazquez, Coach
Ramon made his ML coaching debut in 2017 with the San
Diego Padres and in 2018 will serve as a liaison between
the ML club’s advance scouting and statistical analysis
efforts.
R E D S O X . C OM/MA G A Z I N E 33
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