This is what Alex Cora said after the Red Sox' 4-2 win over Toronto Tuesday night at Fenway Park ...
"I'm going to repeat myself, we just have a good baseball team, very balanced," the Sox' manager said. "We made some good plays defensively today, we put good at-bats. It seems like we just finish games, from the first pitch all the way to the end, communication, making adjustments, taking advantage of situations. That's a good baseball team right there. They made it to the playoffs last year. They've got good pitching, good stuff out of the bullpen, they've got some dynamic players, and to be able to get the first game in this series is big."
He's not wrong. The Red Sox are a good baseball team.
Case in point: What we witnessed against the Blue Jays.
For starters, you need an ace, and that's exactly what the image Eduardo Rodriguez supplied in his third win of the season. There were just two runs (one of them coming on his last batter) over six innings. He threw a fastball that topped out at 94.8 mph 30 times, with a lockdown changeup being offered on 25 occasions.
This was 2019 Rodriguez. That's the Rodriguez they desperately need.
"You saw the velocity today, right? The velocity was up," Cora said. "I don't know at the end how it balances out, but I saw some 95s, 96, some four-seamers up in the zone. He's still looking for that two-seamer to put guys away, the comebacker. He's left some of them over the heart of the plate. Overall, you can see him, stamina-wise and control-wise, he's a lot better. The cutter, it's playing better, although the one he threw to (Bo Bichette, who launched a home run), it looked more like a hanging slider, it was a big one. He wanted to throw it harder. It was one mistake and the kid just put a good swing on it. I do believe velocity is getting there, so that's a good sign. Separation between the fastball and the changeup, that's what makes him great, although his changeup is a hard one."
"I know out of the gate that I have my velocity," Rodriguez noted.
"That’s the velocity i’ve been throwing all the time, up at 94, 95, sometimes 96 and it stays at 92, 93 throughout all the games. Being able to throw 95 today, I feel really good. I feel really good with everything, all my pitches, changeup, everything was working really good. Just keep working. I feel like my body is right where it has to be. Velocity is going to get back at some point and now I know it’s back. After I throw 95, now I just have to keep working and I want to keep having 95 all innings I go out there, not just the first inning."
After Rodriguez, the plan worked to perfection. Matt Andriese to Adam Ottavino to Matt Barnes. No more runs. That will do just fine.
Then there was the Red Sox' offense.
It was only four runs, but the images of Christian Arroyo running around the bases via his three hits (he is now hitting .357), and Xander Bogaerts launching a three-run homer over the left field wall (he is now hitting .392) were a few examples of how this whole thing can work.
Even watching Bobby Dalbec wave to dugout after racing around the bases via his triple, considering the continued evolution of the rookie that was something as well.
And all of this came against yet another pitcher who finished the top tier voting of the 2020 American League Cy Young competition, Hyun Jin Ryu. He joins the likes of Tyler Glasnow, Kenta Maeda, Jose Berrios and Lucas Giolito as part of the pile the Red Sox' have built their 12 wins on.
The Red Sox woke up Wednesday morning have the best record in the American League. It's because they are a good baseball team, like their manager said.