The Boston Red Sox haven't played their best baseball of late but, despite a myriad of injuries, entered Thursday's action with a 22-21 record and are sitting in third place in an incredibly difficult AL East.
Pitching has been the story for Boston, and rightfully so, but they've gotten some strong contributions from unlikely forces. The most unlikely of all is Wilyer Abreu, who has an .865 OPS through his first 37 games and 130 plate appearances of the season.
You'd think a 24-year-old who has been that good would be playing every day, but that has not been the case. Alex Cora's rationale for restricting Abreu's playing time makes a lot of sense.
Alex Cora's explanation for benching impressive rookie part of the time actually makes sense
Abreu, a left-handed hitting outfielder, has been playing just about every day against right-handed pitchers, and for good reason. He's slashing .305/.391/.547 with four home runs and 13 RBI against them. Yet, despite how good he's been against righties, he rarely gets a chance against southpaws.
Abreu has just 20 plate appearances against southpaws. He has three hits and has struck out eight times. Perhaps he'd improve with a larger sample, but Cora gave his reason as to why Abreu isn't getting those chances.
“Throughout my career as a manager, if you look at my track record, all these lefties, they platoon because I know how tough it is,” Cora said. “Most of his at bats are going to be against righties, we’ll pinch hit for him against lefties and with time I bet he’ll start hitting lefties. “We did it with (Triston) Casas and it worked out, we did it with (Rafael Devers), people forget we pinch hit for Raffy in Game 1 of the World Series, and it worked out,” he continued. “That’s how I manage it, that’s how I like it and we’re going to stay with the program.”
Cora notes that Abreu is just one of several left-handed hitters who have been great against righties to not play much against southpaws. He did this with guys like Triston Casas and Rafael Devers who have both developed into strong hitters against lefties over time and some of the best hitters in the game overall.
"Last season Casas got 405 at-bats against righties and only 97 against lefties, but this year prior to his injury he was playing every day, and he was becoming even more productive against lefties (.286, .994) than he was against righties (.228, .807)."
If Abreu continues to hit against righties, he will, eventually, get his chance to do the same against lefties. Cora's history shows that, and with how well Casas has adjusted, platooning Abreu for now might be what's best for the inexperienced outfielder.
The Red Sox happen to have the perfect platoon partner for Abreu in Rob Refsnyder who has historically crushed left-handed pitching. They're not missing much in that spot by keeping Abreu out of the lineup.
For now, it's on Abreu and Red Sox fans to be patient. His time will come if he earns it. Let the proven manager do his thing. It's worked in the past, and there's a good chance it'll work again with Abreu.