FORT MYERS, FL -- On Saturday, Alex Cora playfully alerted the media that he planned to have Triston Casas as his leadoff hitter Sunday against the Tampa Bay Rays, insisting that the move was made to confound the media more than anything else.
But on Sunday, Cora conceded that such a lineup could be used once the regular season starts. When it comes to constructing the batting order for 2023, Cora has several options under consideration and won't rule much out -- including the potentially unorthodox use of the hulking first baseman in the top spot.
"We'll see how it goes,'' said Cora with an impish grin. "We've got a lot of lefties, a lot. And they're really good. We haven't even talked about (Alex Verdugo) in that spot, and he did it in '20. We'll see how it goes. My main goal is to keep (Rafael Devers) and (Masataka) Yoshida split up and try to keep Raffy in the second spot. That would be good.''
From the moment the Red Sox signed Yoshida to a five-year, $90 million deal in December, speculation began that he would be a likely candidate to hit leadoff because of his elite on-base skills. But Yoshida never really hit leadoff in Japan and the pressure and expectations that come with hitting first might be one more element for him to learn -- in a spring when everything about his existence is new.
"All this talk about Yoshuda leading off, I don't know,'' said Cora. "If I mentioned it, I didn't mean to. He might leadoff, but he might hit in the middle of the lineup, too. That's what he's done his whole career.''
For now, with another four-plus weeks before the start of the regular season, Cora sees the issue as a blank canvas. He can experiment, try different combinations and then evaluate the mix.
"I think it's about the personnel, who we have,'' said Cora. "There's certain righties that get crushed by lefties and we might put then all in, And by the time they bring in the lefty, hopefully we have a lot of runs. Understanding how teams manage, we have to be careful with that. Maybe we'll see (Casas) there a few times. Same with Yoshida, same with Dugie. I'm pretty sure Raffy's never going to lead off, but you never know. He'll probably hit second or fourth, maybe some third against lefties. It all depends.''
To Cora's way of thinking, slotting in Devers and Yoshida represents the first piece of the puzzle. Once those two are set -- often, it would seem, with Devers second and Yoshida in the cleanup spot -- he can add other players around the two.
Lineup construction has evolved a lot in the last decade. The notion of the speedy leadoff hitter, one capable of stealing bases and immediately getting a runner into scoring position, is now quaint -- in part because so little basestealing takes place, period.
"The fast part of it doesn't matter,'' said Cora. "If we get traffic in front of those big boys (Devers, Justin Turner, Youshida), that's what we're trying to accomplish.''
Freed from that stereotype, managers have instead sought to install hitters who can provide good at-bats and reach base regularly, without regard to speed or lack thereof. Casas could fit that profile, since, even as he struggled somewhat in terms of batting average (.197) during his audition last September, he managed to reach base at a .358 clip thanks to his understanding of the strike zone.
Another evolution of thought has teams frequently placing their best overall hitter into the No. 2 spot. The Los Angeles Angels have done so with Mike Trout, and the Yankees have done the same with Aaron Judge. Long gone are the days when the second hitter was someone who could hit behind the runner and execute the hit-and-run.
"I think it's more about more at-bats with less than two outs,'' said Cora. "It's a better spot for them. We always used to talk about the third hole (for the best hitter), but that's a lot of at-bats with two outs and nobody on. So we're trying to maximize (Devers). Obviously, you need the bottom of the lineup to get on so he has more opportunities to drive in runs. The more (times) he hits in the game, the better.''
If Cora opts to mix-and-match at the top of the order to take advantage of platoon matchups, it won't be anything new. A year ago, the Red Sox had four different players hit first 15 games or more, and the Sox have generally been without a day-in, day-out leadoff hitter since Mookie Betts left before the start of the 2020 season.
For a time, the Red Sox had hoped that Jarren Duran would emerge as the more prototypical leadoff man, but he's yet to demonstrate the ability to be considered an every day player.
"As of now,'' said Cora, "we're just trying to figure out what we're trying to do.''