{"id":559255,"date":"2026-04-02T01:03:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T01:03:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/559255\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T01:03:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T01:03:08","slug":"alex-cora-takes-carlos-narvaez-out-of-red-sox-lineup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/559255\/","title":{"rendered":"Alex Cora takes Carlos Narv\u00e1ez out of Red Sox lineup"},"content":{"rendered":"

Asked if it was disciplinary, Cora said he wanted to keep it between him and Narv\u00e1ez. After the Red Sox lost, 6-4,<\/a> Narv\u00e1ez agreed with that approach.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd he understands,\u201d Cora said. \u201cAnd it\u2019s something that happens in every club. It just happens to be early in the season, and I think it\u2019s the right thing to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Narv\u00e1ez said: \u201cLike AC said this morning, I prefer to keep it between us. I don\u2019t have much to say right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Cora said he expects Narv\u00e1ez to return to the lineup Friday. Narv\u00e1ez added that he respected Cora\u2019s call and \u201cit\u2019s nothing wrong, just [have] to keep going.\u201d<\/p>\n

For days, the Red Sox planned for Narv\u00e1ez to be behind the plate for ace Garrett Crochet. That changed about 2\u00bd hours before first pitch at Daikin Park, when the Red Sox revealed a new lineup that included Connor Wong at catcher and Narv\u00e1ez among the backups.<\/p>\n

Wong (2 for 3) also played Tuesday night, making his start in the day game unusual. Narv\u00e1ez chatted in the dugout with Cora for part of the game \u2014 about the game, Narv\u00e1ez said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a decision I made, and we\u2019re going to go,\u201d Cora said. \u201cWonger is ready. He\u2019s caught [Crochet] before. We\u2019re fine. It\u2019s a day after night game; it is what it is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Also out of the lineup against righthander Mike Burrows: left fielder Roman Anthony, who was 1 for his last 17 with 10 strikeouts, and second baseman Marcelo Mayer, who was hitless in his last 11 at-bats with five strikeouts.<\/p>\n

Both entered as pinch hitters in the ninth inning. Anthony hit his first home run of the year, a 391-foot opposite-field blast off Bryan Abreu. Mayer struck out.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a good time for [Anthony to sit out]. He\u2019s going to, like, reset, take advantage,\u201d Cora said before the game. \u201cI think he\u2019s just late [on pitches], to be honest. You\u2019re late, then you feel rushed, and you can see him missing two-seamers under, and that doesn\u2019t happen very often. So let\u2019s get back to basics. . . . When the lows come, he just stays calm.\u201d<\/p>\n

And Mayer?<\/p>\n

\u201cSame thing,\u201d Cora said. \u201cI think [Tuesday], towards the end \u2014 the last two at-bats, he was late on fastballs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jarren Duran filled in for Anthony in left, with Masataka Yoshida getting another start at DH. Isiah Kiner-Falefa played second base.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe [have] to play Izzy,\u201d Cora said. \u201cAs a utility player, I know how tough it is. If you play once every 10 days, that\u2019s not going to help. It\u2019s not going to make him better. It\u2019s not going to make us better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Triston Casas suffered a setback in the form of a strained left intercostal, a muscle connected to the ribs, and the first baseman is shut down from hitting activities until symptoms subside, the Red Sox announced.<\/p>\n

He has not had an MRI and instead the team will wait to see how he progresses in the coming days.<\/p>\n

Although Casas still is rehabbing his left knee after surgery last May, this injury is separate from that, Cora said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to slow it down,\u201d Cora said. \u201cNothing related to the knee. He\u2019s doing well, but this happened swinging, so we have to shut him down swinging-wise for I don\u2019t know how long.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Red Sox medical people] didn\u2019t seem too concerned about it, but understanding everything that he\u2019s been through the last few years, you have to be careful.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2024, Casas tore cartilage in his rib cage, also on the left side. That sidelined him for four months.<\/p>\n

Last year, he tore the patellar tendon in his left knee, which cost him the final five months of the season.<\/p>\n

A positive development on the injury front: Lefthander Patrick Sandoval (Tommy John surgery in 2024) will begin a rehabilitation assignment Sunday with Double-A Portland, the team said.<\/p>\n

Righthander Kutter Crawford (knee and wrist problems last year) is a tad behind Sandoval but is on pace to pitch in minor league games this month, Cora said.<\/p>\n

The morning after home plate umpire Mark Wegner accepted responsibility for forgetting the count during Cam Smith\u2019s fifth-inning plate appearance Tuesday night against Brayan Bello \u2014 turning what should have been a three-pitch strikeout into a nine-pitch, three-ball walk \u2014 Cora did the same.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s on us. We have to be better than that. I take full blame of that,\u201d Cora said. \u201cYeah, the umpire missed it, but there\u2019s a system. We can actually ask for a count check, but we didn\u2019t do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Red Sox, umpires, and Smith got distracted by a two-strike play on which the Sox committed two errors on a stolen base. When play resumed, nobody seemed to know the count.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of things happened, right? And [the count] was the last thing I was thinking,\u201d Cora said. \u201cEverybody was confused over there, but in the dugout, we weren\u2019t confused. We missed it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Blue Jays returned minor league righthander Angel Bastardo to the Red Sox. Bastardo, 23, was selected by Toronto in the Rule 5 draft prior to the 2025 season \u2014 which he missed because of Tommy John surgery. Now healthy, Bastardo still was subject to the Rule 5 rules, but the Jays didn\u2019t want to carry him on the roster. Back in the Sox\u2019 farm system he goes . . . Cora suggested the Red Sox have to \u201ctake the emotional part\u201d out of their automated ball-strike challenge system decisions. Center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela, reputed for his suboptimal knowledge of the strike zone, lost a challenge on the first pitch of his at-bat in the third inning Tuesday. \u201cSometimes it\u2019s even like, play it without thinking that there\u2019s a system until later in the game,\u201d Cora said. \u201cJust play it straightforward.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tim Healey can be reached at timothy.healey@globe.com<\/a>. Follow him @timbhealey<\/a>.<\/p>\n