Will Venable (Bench Coach) Is Acting Manager After Alex Cora Tests Positive For Covid-19

A fully vaccinated and boosted Alex Cora has tested positive for Covid-19 and will not accompany the Red Sox to the fucked-up state of Florida for a Friday/weekend series against the Rays.

Bench coach Will Venable stepped in to manage the team on Thursday, a 3-2 loss to the Blue Jays that ended after the Red Sox failed to get the tying run home from third with only one out in the bottom of the ninth. Trevor Story was the leadoff hitter last night, as Kiké Hernández has not been up to the task (.157/.246/.333). Story is an improvement, but his OBP is under .300 as well (.296). . . . Story is leading off again tonight, with Hernández hitting fifth (?!?).

The team is a bit of a mess as it hits the road for seven games against the Rays and Blue Jays. Cora is only the latest member of the Red Sox to contract the virus. Kevin Plawecki (vaccinated) and two staff members tested positive on Monday and Jonathan Araúz and Christian Vázquez tested positive on Tuesday. Vázquez returned to the lineup last night. Also, J.D. Martinez did not play on Thursday because of tightness in his left adductor. The strain will likely keep him out of tonight's game, too.

The team's offense is also decidedly pallid. The Red Sox are averaging 3.8 runs per game, 18th among all MLB teams and their lowest average over the first 13 games of a season since 2014 season. Boston's OBP is .284, their worst mark through a seasons first 13 games since 1963! (Trust me, that's a looooong time ago.) As a response, perhaps, the team is swinging at everything. The Red Sox have the worst chase rate in MLB, waving at 35.2% of pitches outside the strike zone; they are swinging at 50.8% of pitches overall, second highest in MLB.

So they are hacking and they are hacking early, too, ranking 30th (dead last) with only 3.7 pitches per plate appearance. As the Globe's Alex Spieier notes, that undisciplined approach "lends itself to swings and misses, bad contact, and low walk rates". Last night, Toronto's Kevin Gausman became only the fourth starting pitcher to finish eight innings this season. He needed only 87 pitches.

Jason Mastrodonato of the Herald writes that the Red Sox look "like a car that keeps stalling". Individually, numerous hitters are slumping. Bobby Dalbec (7-for-40, .175/.250/.275) has one of the lowest contact rates in baseball (63%) and Travis Shaw is 0-for-10. Story is hitting only .235 with two extra-base hits in nine games and yet to barrel up a baseball, according to the Baseball Savant website. 

Pitcher Tanner Houck has refused to get vaccinated and will not be allowed into Canada. He won't make his scheduled start next Tuesday. "It's a personal choice and I'm not going to comment on it anymore. I've tried to stay away from it no matter what side of the fence you're on there are always going to be positives and negatives."

Really? No matter what you do, you're gonna get shit for it? . . . One the one hand, you run the risk of contracting (and/or spreading) a deadly virus that has killed a minimum of six million people worldwide and is responsible for killing 400-500 people in the US every single day. On the other hand, you can get a free and safe vaccine that will, in large part, keep you and your family safe and alive. . . . Yeah, I can see how it's pretty much a toss-up. . . . Jesus, that's some fucking serious NYT-level bothsides-ism.

A new study from the Peterson Center on Healthcare and Kaiser Family Foundation states that from June 2021 to March 2022, 61% of Covid-19 deaths were probably preventable had the decedent been vaccinated. Since June 2021 (when every US adult had access to vaccines), more than 234,000 unvaccinated Americans died who could have lived had they been immunized against the virus. Looking at the US's official death toll (approx. 1,020,000), that means roughly 1 out of every 4 deaths did not have to happen.

Michael Wacha starts tonight in Tampa Bay, with Question Mark on Saturday and Rich Hill on Sunday. Cora said Garrett Whitlock might start on Saturday (0.93 ERA and 11 strikeouts in 9.2 relief innings)  and Houck will likely follow Hill out of the pen on Sunday.

It is still unknown which other unvaccinated players will not be with the team next Monday-Thursday.  I can't wait to see who'll be joining Meatloafhead Houck in singing "I'd Do Anything To Help The Team (But I Won't Do That)".

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