How Cora thinks Red Sox can improve in '23

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- A day before his Red Sox start Spring Training -- though many of the players have already been on-site for days working out -- manager Alex Cora addressed nearly every element of his 2023 club in a 23-minute session with the media on Tuesday.

Here are some highlights.

‘Offense should be better’

Take away Xander Bogaerts and J.D. Martinez and it’s easy to assume the Sox might take a step back offensively this season. Not so, says Cora, who is bullish on new additions Masataka Yoshida, Justin Turner and Adam Duvall joining a core that includes Rafael Devers, Alex Verdugo, Kiké Hernández and promising rookie Triston Casas.

“It's a different group. It's a different dynamic. We’ve got guys that will make contact,” said Cora. “[Turner], Yoshida, obviously Casas after a handful of at-bats, he’s gonna feel more comfortable. We know he dominates the zone. I think his numbers will come up. He's going to hit homers, too.

“From my end, I like doubles, and those doubles, some of them are going to turn into homers, but I think Turner and Duvall in that environment will hit a few fly balls to left field [at Fenway] and see where they go -- it’s going to help them out.

“I feel like offensively we should be better. The approach is going to be different. We have to dominate [the] strike zone the way we did in September last year. We led the league in on-base percentage [in September] and we walked a lot. We did a good job grinding at-bats, and if we can do that and have a lot of traffic, then we can cash in.”

Lineup construction

Cora didn’t figure out the order of his starting lineup while scribbling onto a piece of paper over the winter. He needs to do some tinkering. There has been an assumption Yoshida will lead off given his elite on-base skills, But that could be counterproductive if Devers stays in his favorite spot in the lineup: The two-hole. Both hitters are left-handed.

“We’ve got a bunch of lefties and we’ve got to find a way to balance it. Obviously the opposition will dictate what we do too,” said Cora. “I’ll say it now -- we have to split up Yoshida and Raffy. We’ve got to find a way to do that.”

Sale is ready from the jump

For Chris Sale, the start of Spring Training the past few years meant being mostly confined to the training room. Not this year. The lefty is on schedule with the other pitchers and on track to start the season on time.

“Chris is doing well. He’s throwing a bullpen [Wednesday] and Saturday,” said Cora. “[He’ll face] hitters next week. So far, so good.”

Rotation competition

While there are no classic battles on the position-player side of things, there should be heated competition in the starting rotation with seven pitchers vying for five spots. The group includes Sale, Garrett Whitlock, Brayan Bello, Nick Pivetta, Corey Kluber, Tanner Houck and James Paxton. Like Sale, the club considers Paxton to be healthy again after several years of battling injuries. The club is excited about Bello’s potential and Whitlock starting full-time for the first time in his career.

“Just keep everybody healthy and make decisions towards the end of camp,” Cora said. “We cannot get ahead of ourselves. Obviously, there’s a lot of question marks, a lot of red flags. But as of now, everybody’s on track. Everybody feels good about themselves physically. They’re OK, so we’ve just got to keep building up and see where we’re at in a few weeks. And then after that, we’ll make decisions.”

Prediction? Get better

At the start of other springs, Cora has spoken confidently about expectations and playing into October. This year, coming off a 78-84 finish, he is more comfortable low-keying it.

In fact, he gave a humorous answer when asked about the Red Sox being picked to finish fifth by prognosticators.

“The way we played last year, I don’t blame them,” Cora said.

Does the manager have a prediction of his own?

“Just get better. I'm not going to come here and say that we're going to play November 5 or whenever Game 7 or Game 6 of the World Series is, but we’re going to get better,” said Cora. “I always say, we’ve got a good baseball team. We’ve got a bunch of guys that have done it before. Some of them have been together in other venues and they were successful. Hopefully we can accomplish that here in Boston.”