The Red Sox knew something needed to change after they traded Rafael Devers to the San Francisco Giants.
Boston looked exactly how you’d expect after shipping off its best hitter, finishing just 3-6 on a cross-country trip that included some putrid offensive showings against the Seattle Mariners, San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Angels.
How could they improve that?
Red Sox manager Alex Cora, along with the rest of his staff, instituted a change to pregame hitters meetings that saw their group sessions dwindle down into a more individualized approach.
“Communication-wise, we changed a few things meeting-wise,” Cora said on Wednesday, per Sean McAdam of MassLive. “It’s more one-on-one now that it was 10 days ago. We have the big meeting the first day of the series, but after that, (the coaches) grab (the players) one-on-one.
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“I think it brings accountability. When you sit down with the hitting coach and they ask you about the stuff of the pitcher (you’re about to face) you’d better know. Sometimes when you sit as a group, you can hide. We talked about it on the way here from Anaheim last week and we started doing it against the Blue Jays. I think it helps the kids, to sit one-on-one with them and explain to them a few things.”
Boston has seen a major change in roster dynamics in recent seasons, with the veteran groups that led them to long postseason runs in 2018 and 2021 transition into one full of rookies that have been anything but consistent across 2023, 2024 and 2025.
“It’s evolved,” Cora said. “We went from a mature, veteran team in ‘18 to a lot of young players now. It makes sense. Hopefully in time, we get back to sharing ideas and talking about it. I think at the end of the day, those meetings have to player driven, if you’re going to get together as a group – not coach driven.
“I think we recognize who we have and this is the way it should be.”
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The Red Sox have seen the change immediately pay dividends, as they’ve averaged 7.2 runs across a five-game sample size entering Wednesday night’s game against the Cincinnati Reds. Can it continue?
