I think it’s an interesting discussion. Is he the only one who knows what he needs to be ready? Does the medical staff have no say? Is there nothing to the idea of pushing yourself a little harder in order to be with the big club for the biggest series of the year, even if you’re not 100%. It sure seemed like Cora, a guy who never has anything bad to say about any of his players, was disappointed Story had elected to stay in Worcester for the entire allotted time. I mean, earlier in the week, he certainly implied that Story would be available for the series. Yeah, circumstances change but I think it’s fair to question what role Bloom and Cora had in the decision making process. And Story hit 2 or 3 homers this weekend.
To drill down on the bolded a bit. . .Cora more than a bit passive-aggressive in terms of blaming the players. He'll place collective blame and so shelter himself from responsibility. "We need to execute our pitches," isn't really
not calling someone out when one single pitcher imploded, and it's far from saying, "So and so tried hard, but I shouldn't have put them in that position." All that to say, yes, he does put blame on the players pretty consistently, but he often does not use specific names.
Mind you, I'm not saying he
should call players out by names. What he should be doing (in conjunction with his coaching staff) is leading a prepared team onto the field.
How he does that is entirely up to him, and the proof is in the pudding.
I think it's no secret that I view his days-off policy (as he implements it) as somewhat random and preplexing. So too his bullpen/PH usage. My main critique is that the "long-view," predictable roles, pre-scheduled days-off no matter who we are playing, approach hasn't seemed conducive to picking up marginal wins over marginal losses. But whatever - if they had a better record, the approach would justify itself. (And to be clear, I'm not personally invested in some kind of "best approach" philosophy. I don't in fact care what the approach actually is - run a tight clubhouse, run a loose clubhouse, whatever works. But it has to work.)
Here, I think it's fairly ironic to see Cora try to call out someone for sticking to the schedule instead of stepping in to try to win a key game. Because that's not the culture on this club.
I also think it's ironic that Cora's bemoaning a team that's not playing fundamental baseball well; I really have no idea the number of hours Cora and Staff drilled these guys in Spring Training or what they set up to carry into the season. But I do remember Cora going on and on and on about the WBC and helping P.R., etc. Which in and of itself is no bad thing. But get the job done. Cold showers, group prayer, hard-drinking nights on the town, nothing-but-drills, mental visualization. . .whatever works, man. Set the tone, vary it, but make it self-perpetuating in some way. Help the players help themselves.
It's like Cora's the guy saying, "Hey, I never thought I'd have to say this. . .
but it's urgent now. So just play better.
Now."
