When the Red Sox face the Marlins on Saturday, manager Alex Cora¡¯s emotions figure to be all over the place. And it will have nothing to do with that day¡¯s game.
Following Friday night¡¯s game, Cora will fly to his home in Caguas, Puerto Rico, so he can attend his daughter Camila¡¯s graduation from high school the following day. Bench coach Will Venable will manage the Red Sox on Saturday.
Cora will be back in the dugout for Sunday afternoon¡¯s finale of the homestand.
The whirlwind trip will be fully worth it for Cora, who has always spoken with affection about his only daughter.
¡°On a personal note, this girl, she means the world to us. She¡¯s been through a lot in her life,¡± Cora said. ¡°A child of divorced parents, that¡¯s not easy, but the fact we¡¯ve been able to work through it together and put her in a situation where she¡¯s at right now. She¡¯s going to college.
¡°She¡¯s been great to us throughout the process. She suffered a lot the last 16 months with everything that happened with me, but, at the same time, our relationship has grown. I explained to her a lot of stuff, she had a lot of questions and I answered all of them.¡±
As you might expect from anyone who has a close relationship with Cora, Camila loves baseball.
¡°She is still rooting for the Red Sox, rooting for dad, rooting for baseball,¡± Cora said. ¡°And now is our time to root for her. I cannot wait for Saturday. I think it¡¯s probably the biggest day of my life, to be able to see Camila graduate from high school. It¡¯s amazing. She is actually the life of our family, she¡¯s the vibe of our family, she¡¯s the leader of our family, and I cannot wait for that. It will be a special day.¡±
Working his way back?
There hasn¡¯t been much talk about Brandon Workman since the Red Sox re-signed their former closer to a Minor League deal and assigned him to Triple-A Worcester. Cora provided an update on Wednesday.
¡°Work has been throwing the ball well. I think his breaking ball is playing a lot better,¡± Cora said. ¡°As far as usage, we want him to throw the cutter a little bit more and we are getting there.¡±
The veteran righty has a 1.80 ERA in five appearances at Worcester.
Verdugo can get better at ¡®everything¡¯
Off to a solid start this season, outfielder Alex Verdugo cautions people not to look at him as a finished product.
What can he get better at?
¡°Everything,¡± Verdugo said. ¡°I mean, I'm not gonna lie [to] you, everything. It's just one of those things, I feel like I've had a good year, yes, but the person, the competitor in me, knows that there's a lot more, in every aspect.
¡°On the baserunning, stealing more bases. Getting the job done with runners on third [and less than two outs], just putting the ball in play. Getting more doubles, things like that. Stepping it up a little bit more on the defensive side as well. Every part of my game, every piece it's just like, I feel like this year I haven't fully clicked. It's kind of been a grind. It's been a good season so far, but it's nowhere near what I expected to be or what I want it to be.¡±