Red Sox

‘It starts with be better’: Alex Cora hopes the Red Sox can turn the page ahead of their first full-squad workout in 2023

Cora also shared a positive update on Brayan Bello's status ahead of the first full-squad practice.

By Conor Roche

February 19, 2023

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The 2022 season was one to forget for the Red Sox.

They went 78-84 to finish in last place in the AL East as they hit several low points in the second half of the season. But that’s now the past as Monday will be the Red Sox’ first full-squad practice of the 2023 season.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters Sunday that he expects everyone to be in attendance on Monday. So, what will Cora’s message be to the group as they look to put last season behind them?

“It starts with be better. That’s the most important thing. We’ve just got to be better,” Cora said. “We finished last and we know it. But at the same time, it’s a different group. One thing about the group, they really don’t care about what happened here last year or the year before or 2018. They can care less about those guys.

“It’s a new season. There’s a lot of good things that are happening right now. We’re trying to connect of course in the clubhouse, off the field and all that stuff. That’s gonna take time but so far, so good.”

Monday’s full-squad workout comes a little less than a week after pitchers and catchers began their spring training workouts at Fort Myers, Florida on Wednesday.

Cora said that it’s already “been a great week” with the players they’ve had down at Fenway South so far.

“We’re here to get better and play better baseball,” Cora said. “We’ve got the right attitude. I think I mentioned it this morning. If you pick a word to describe what happened this week, it was professionalism. There was no complaining, no talks about contracts or whatever.”

There was a lot of contract talk surrounding the Red Sox this offseason. They let several players walk in free agency, most notably Xander Bogaerts, J.D. Martinez, and Nathan Eovaldi, while adding 10 players from outside of the organization to their 40-man roster.

That’s a lot of new players to integrate into the mix, especially considering that 12 Red Sox players will depart camp at the beginning of March to play in the World Baseball Classic.

Cora isn’t too concerned about that though, noting that there’s been a lot of change with teams across the league in recent seasons.

“It’s going to take away [bonding time] but in the game that we play in and the business we live in – the 2017 [Houston Astros] champs only had three players on last year’s [Astros] team. Us, we’ve got three players [from 2018} on the roster. Tell me how many [players from their 2019 World Series team] are on the Nationals right now. The [2020] Dodgers, we’ve got four of those guys on our team right now.”

“It’s part of the business. They understand that,” Cora added. “I think it’s a lot easier nowadays with this, guys playing all over the place. But we’re going to maximize the time that they’re going to be here.”

Young pitcher Brayan Bello, who was shut down on Friday due to forearm soreness, will throw on Monday, too.

“He’ll be ready for tomorrow, we’ll know more tomorrow,” Cora said. “So far, so good. He’s doing better. Until he throws, we won’t know. We’re optimistic that he’s going to be fine.”