Red Sox's Alex Cora Teases Upcoming Pitching Strategy Change (2025)

The Red Sox might choose to get a bit creative right before they head back to Boston.

After salvaging their series in Chicago against the White Sox, the Red Sox on Monday will open a three-game set in Tampa Bay. Tanner Houck and Walker Buehler are in line to start the first two games of the series, respectively, but it remains to be seen who will take the ball in the finale against the Rays. The standard schedule would call for Sean Newcomb, but Alex Cora might not stick to his season-opening plan.

“We’ll talk about it,” Cora told reporters, per The Boston Globe. “Sean is in line to pitch that game. In what role we don’t know yet.”

The start of the campaign wasn’t very kind to Newcomb, who went less than five innings in all of his first three starts. Even though the Red Sox aren’t exactly flush with pitching depth at the moment due to injuries, it still wouldn’t be surprising if Cora elects to tackle the finale at Tropicana Field in a different way.

In the meantime, Boston will try to notch its second straight victory Monday evening. NESN’s complete coverage of the opener begins at 6 p.m. ET.