In his quest to make sure no Red Sox hitter pulls to within 2,625 games of Cal Ripken Jr.’s iconic consecutive-games streak (2,632), manager Alex Cora has been systematically resting even the most integral players in the Red Sox lineup.
Well, he’s either doing that, or he believes ample rest in April will lead to a roster that isn’t fighting fatigue at the end of the long season. I’ll let you decide which theory you believe.
For whatever odd lineups Cora has submitted – and resting Mookie Betts and Hanley Ramirez on the same day (a 4-1 loss to Oakland on April 22) was pushing the limits of logic – it is impressive that he comes up with lineups similar to this:
1.