Alex Cora wants Red Sox to rein in their aggressiveness on the bases

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- In his Thursday morning media availability, Alex Cora responded to a question about his team’s aggressiveness on the bases.

Without prompting, Cora mentioned – twice – the exact number of times the Red Sox ran into outs on the bases last year (81, by far the most in the majors).

That that figure was so readily offered by Cora could not have been a coincidence and it’s telling that he was so familiar with the team’s alarmingly high total.

Cora understood that his predecessor, John Farrell, directed the 2017 Red Sox to take extra chances on the bases because the team lacked power and was forced to seek alternate ways to score as a mean of compensating for the absence of the long ball.

Now that the Sox have added J.D. Martinez to the lineup, homers presumably won’t be in as short a supply. But Cora wants the Sox to scale back on the aggression for philosophical reasons, too. In an era where teams look to maximize scoring opportunities, Cora doesn’t want to see the team taking unnecessary risks.

“I use the word responsible running the bases,’’ said Cora. “They know every out counts. That’s very important. But at the same time, we can take advantage of it. There were a lot of situations (last year), watching video, where, on a base hit to center, the guy from second is going to score easily but the batter-runner just kept going  because that’s what  they had been taught – not here, but throughout their career – to trade an out for a run. But that’s not the case anymore. You have to be very careful with that.

“If you start looking at the 81 outs, there were a lot like that: first and second, guy from second scores, but the trail runner gets thrown out at third, just because there were two outs and ‘let’s make sure we score the run.’  So, we’re trying to preach that they have to be aware what the defense is, who’s running in front of you, if it’s a close play at the plate, or not … so they have to be aware. You can coach yourself on the bases. That’s what we’re trying to do. If you do that, you’re going to be fine.’’

At a time when versatility is being emphasized throughout the game, Cora sees the opportunity to take advantage of some defenders playing unfamiliar positions, with some aggressiveness warranted on the part of baserunners. Some of that will be dictated by playing 81 games at Fenway, where some short fields and odd dimensions encourage some risk-taking.

“We play in a different ballpark,’’ he said. “It’s not 100 percent that if you get an extra-base hit at our place, that you’re going to score from first. So we have to make sure that we take advantage of 90 feet and that’s what we’re trying to do.’’

While striking a balance in aggressiveness, Cora has inherited an athletic lineup, with, he believes, as many as five position players are capable of hitting 20 homers and stealing 20 bases. He didn’t identify them, but it would stand to reason he was counting Andrew Benintendi, Jackie Bradley Jr., Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts and perhaps even Hanley Ramirez, who has half-seriously been proclaiming that he’s going to have a 30-30 season.

“That’s never happened in the history of the game,’’ said Cora of the prospect of five players on the same team with 20-20, “but we can do that. I’m not saying we’re just going to be the (1959) Go-Go White Sox. But this is a team, throughout the years, (that’s been) very successful at stealing bases (at a high success rate).''