FORT MYERS, Fla. -- In 2019, with the Red Sox coming off a World Series championship, manager Alex Cora infamously told his team not to turn the page.

Three years later, Cora admitted that was a mistake.

As he addressed his players, staff and the organization as a whole prior to the team’s first full-squad workout on Tuesday, Cora had a much different tune. It was one aimed at the Red Sox not resting on their 2021 laurels, which included a trip to the American League Championship Series.

“I learned from ‘18 into ‘19, it’s not the same season,” said Cora. “So it’s a new season. A lot of new challenges and obviously we have to cancel the noise, because it’s going to be loud. There are a lot of good teams in the division. We are one of them, but at the same time, it’s kind of like last year in a sense; we have to fight for every inch. We have to get better and keep improving, and we’ll see where it takes us.”

Red Sox president/CEO Sam Kennedy was among those inspired by the message delivered by Cora, who enters his fourth season as Boston’s manager.

• Kennedy addresses key topics surrounding Red Sox

“Alex’s message to the team as usual was powerful,” said Kennedy. “He talked about making a mistake in ’18 and delivering a message that, you know, we don't want to turn the page, that we want to just keep this thing rolling. And he acknowledged that that was a mistake and that we need to reinvent ourselves each and every year.

“He talked specifically about some of the new players coming in and some of our existing guys who have been here and just how difficult it is to get to that postseason and the grind, but he reiterated that that was the goal.

“He reiterated that the men and the women and the individuals in the organization who are standing behind the players are all there to support the players and we're there for them. And it would be great if once in a while we could say please and thank you or you're welcome. Just being courteous to each other, being respectful, being a good human being. It was a really powerful message that I think resonated.”

Cora’s other overriding theme was for his players not to view this Spring Training as a sprint even if it is condensed. Skipping steps in the process will only hurt the Red Sox from a health and performance standpoint.

“It’s not a sprint. You have to slow it down,” said Cora. “I know rumors wise and transactions wise and the [smaller] amount of [exhibition] games, it looks like it’s going to be a 100-meter race, but we know it’s not. So if we are able to do that with not only players or staff down here but from top to bottom, we’ll be in good shape.”

Eovaldi, Pivetta on tap for weekend
While the Red Sox might deploy exclusively Minor League players for Thursday’s Grapefruit League opener against the Twins, Cora announced that Nathan Eovaldi will start Friday’s home game against the Rays and Nick Pivetta will take the ball for Saturday’s road game against Minnesota.

Both pitchers geared up for their assignments by throwing live batting practice on Tuesday.

Cora said that some of his position players could see action on Thursday, but most will make their debuts on Friday at JetBlue Park against the Rays.

“I think we have a good plan,” Cora said. “We were here for three weeks [plotting]. If we don't have a good plan, then we actually wasted our time. So we feel good where we [are] at as far as structure and all that.”

House beard
Cora’s beard has become a big topic of conversation. The manager playfully said that his newfound facial hair has nothing to do with baseball.

“No, not playoff a beard. This is a house beard,” said Cora. “I said it before. This is not about the Red Sox or other stuff. It's about [my girlfriend] Angelica. She hates me right now because I keep saying this, but yeah, you gotta give her credit. So she's happy I'm keeping it. Tomorrow is photo day. I'll keep it tomorrow. I did a few things already for the scoreboard. So even if I shave, the beard will be there.”