The search to replace Mookie Betts is taking on new meaning in 2021 as Red Sox manager Alex Cora seeks a new leadoff hitter for the first time since Betts’ departure.
Sunday, as the Red Sox began their Grapefruit League schedule with a 7-6 loss to the Minnesota Twins, Cora revealed his plan at the top of the order.
Kiké Hernandez, who has a career .313 on-base percentage, is getting a chance to prove himself as the new leadoff hitter. He was 1-for-2 with a single while playing shortstop and hitting leadoff in the Sox’ first spring game at Hammond Stadium.
“I’m going to challenge him,” Cora said. “This is a guy that he can impact the baseball. He can hit extra-base hits. I do believe that there’s more there.”
Hernandez, 29, had just a .270 on-base percentage last year with one of the lowest walk rates (5%) in the league. But Cora likes his speed and energy at the top of the order and believes there’s some untapped potential in the former Dodgers’ utility man.
“Obviously last year with them, it’s a little challenging with the at-bats, short season, more structured lineup for them, so he didn’t get as many opportunities to play against righties,” Cora said. “We’ll see where it takes us.”
It all goes back to Cora’s catchphrase in 2018: do damage.
The year before Cora arrived, Betts had spent some time as the leadoff hitter over the summer, but former manager John Farrell moved him to the middle of the order late in the year. Betts was the Sox’ cleanup hitter in the postseason, when they were knocked out in the American League Division Series by Cora and the Astros.
Soon after Cora was hired to replace Farrell, the new skipper announced that Betts was going to be the leadoff man. It was all part of Cora’s plan to attack pitchers aggressively from the first pitch of the game.
Hernandez has a much different profile, but is perhaps closer to the hitter Cora prefers at the top of the order than Betts was in ’18. Hernandez swung about 50% of the time last year, well-above the MLB average of 46.6%, whereas Betts had swung just 36% of the time the year before Cora arrived.
“Kind of like what I preached in ’18, ’19,” Cora said. “If it’s there, put a good swing on it. Hopefully he hits it out of the ballpark, off the wall, or in the gap. We’ll see.”
Cora hasn’t committed to Hernandez replacing Alex Verdugo as the leadoff hitter this year, but said he’s taking a look at it.
Verdugo has more of a patient, gap-to-gap approach. He swung just 43% of the time last year, swung at the first pitch just 12% of the time (MLB average is 28%) and had a .367 on-base percentage.
It’s long been considered en vogue for the best offenses in baseball to have a high-OBP guy at the top of the order. And for good reason: it works.
The top three offenses by runs scored last year were the Dodgers, Braves and Padres, who all had leadoff hitters who ranked in the top half of the league at getting on base. Same can be said for 2019 with the Yankees, Twins and Astros. And in 2018, with the Red Sox, Yankees and Indians.
In those three years, the Red Sox have scored runs in almost perfect correlation with their leadoff hitters’ OBP: first in runs in ’18, first in leadoff OBP; fourth in runs in ’19, fifth in leadoff OBP; 11th in runs last year, 13th in leadoff OBP.
With Hernandez, Cora is betting that getting on base at a high clip is less impactful than swinging aggressively and hitting the ball hard.
A lot has to do with what Cora saw from the Red Sox while watching on television from his home in Puerto Rico last year. He felt they looked slow and lacked energy.
“Sometimes I feel like our group, they get not tight, but it becomes very serious, very professional,” he said. “I always said it’s such a humble group, although it’s different people now compared to the two years I managed, but for them to have fun, relax and enjoy it.
“There’s nothing wrong with smiling and playing the game. I do believe there are certain times we forget about that. He’ll bring that.”
It’s no coincidence Hernandez was the free agent the Red Sox handed the most guaranteed money ($14 million over two years) out of any of their acquisitions this winter. Cora thinks he’s the best defensive second baseman in baseball. He played shortstop on Sunday. He’ll play all over the field.
And if the spring training experiment goes well, he’ll do it while batting first for the 2021 Red Sox.
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Alex Cora ignoring traditional leadoff hitter profile to give Kiké Hernandez a chance for 2021 Red Sox - Boston Herald
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