The Red Sox won't make a decision on J.D. Martinez's availability until Tuesday morning, when they have to submit their roster to the league.
Martinez suffered a rolled ankle when he tripped over second base while jogging out to the outfield Sunday at Nationals Park. He remained in the game for that half inning, but was pinch-hit for when his turn at bat next arrived.
"He's getting treatment,'' said Alex Cora of his DH late Monday afternoon. "Let's see how he reacts to treatment and everything that they're doing to him in there. We don't know yet.''
Determining Martinez's availability is just one question of many the Sox have to answer. Teams construct a 26-man roster for the wild card game, then can completely change up their roster should they advance to the best-of-five Division Series.
The Sox and Cora have never had to make up a roster for a one-game playoff, and it's.....different.
"This is one game and there's going to be guys that we are not going to have on the roster that obviously deserve to be there,'' Cora said. "It's very difficult. Obviously, you go through the game mentally. I've been thinking about this game and moves and all that stuff for the last 24 hours and we don't know the roster. It's very hard to do. But at the end, I think the 26 guys that (the Yankees) are going to pick and the 26 guys we're going to pick, they're going to be the right ones.''
Cora did shed some light on some other decisions. With Jose Iglesias ineligible, Christian Arroyo will be at second base, moving Kike Hernandez back to the outfield. Cora also said that Kevin Plawecki -- and not Christian Vazquez -- will be the starting catcher, citing how well starting pitcher Nathan Eovaldi had worked with Plawecki this season as the rational.
"(Eovaldi and Plawecki) have done an amazing job together,'' said Cora. "Nothing against Christian, but (the other two) have been good. Offensively, I think both have done a good job lately. But this is more about, throughout the season, I think (Plawecki) caught him 17 times, if I'm not mistaken.''
Cora also added that there's a "good chance,'' Jarren Duran will be on the roster to supply a fast baserunner should the Sox need to pinch-run for someone late in the game.
He added that while starter Nick Pivetta would likely be on the roster to be available in relief, while the club was still making a decision on Eduardo Rodriguez.
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Eovaldi didn't fare well against the Yankees in his final start against them -- allowing seven runs on seven hits on just 2.2. innings -- but isn't worried about that carrying over.
"I feel like that's one of the best things I've been able to do this year, is rebound after a bad start,'' said Eovaldi. "I felt last time I faced these guys, it was a little mechanical and if you fall behind in counts, they're going to be able to do damage. And I wasn't able to execute my off-speed pitches. And then, in the next start against Baltimore, I felt like I was locating all my pitches and pounding the strike zone and getting some quick outs. I felt like I turned the page at that point, even in the bullpen before that. So I'm excited just to be able to redeem myself for the start (Tuesday).''
Eovaldi's history against the Yankees is a positive one with a career mark of 3-4 and a 3,64 ERA over 15 outings, 12 of them starts.
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Cora and Yankee manager Aaron Boone are close friends, having worked together at ESPN before beginning their managerial careers in 2018. They faced off in the ALDS with the Sox winning in four games, and now, they're doing it again.
There's competition at stake, but Cora wasn't afraid to show his affection for the man he'll try to oust from the postseason.
"I think Aaron, for him to be in this spot, tells you what kind of manager he is,'' said Cora. "I texted him yesterday. I'm very proud of him. At one point, we went to New York and it was very tough on him. I know how it works. We work in two markets that people will talk about your team and they will talk about you. You know, although I try to cancel the noise here, I check on my guys throughout the league.
"At one point, it was very difficult over there. Although tomorrow, at 8 p.m., he wants to beat me as bad as I want to beat him, and at the end, we'll see who advances. But I think he did an amazing job this year.''
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An ESPN report Sunday suggested that, as the highest-seeded road team in a tie-breaker scenario, the Yankees told MLB they would prefer to play the Red Sox rather than Toronto in a play-in round robin. Cora was asked if that could provide the Sox with bulletin-board material.
"No, we don't need that,'' Cora said. "What we want to do is play in Tampa in a few days. If we need something like that, we're not as good as think we are. That's part of the process. There's a lot of different stuff that goes into that. I don't even remember what we decided to do (as "Team A''), to be honest with you.''