Alex Cora Provided Unique Message To Struggling Red Sox Hitter

Red Sox first baseman Triston Casas has struggled at the plate in the first seven games of Boston’s 2025 season.

The 2018 first-round draft pick had just three hits in 21 at-bats entering the Red Sox’s finale against the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday afternoon.

Casas went 2-for-5 with a home run and two RBI in Boston’s 8-4 series win in Camden Yards on Thursday.

Breaking out of the slump may just have been a direct result of manager Alex Cora’s message to Casas.

“He knows when I talk to him in Spanish, it means something,” Cora said before Thursday’s game, per MassLive’s Christopher Smith. “And he felt like he was actually being aggressive. And I was like, ‘You look passive at the plate.’ So just let it eat.”

Casas answered the call and understood why Cora provided the advice.

“Being aggressive and being passive is a two-way street,” Casas said, per Smith. “It’s a push and a pull. You’re too much of one, and they’ll take advantage of it. And too much of the other, it’s not productive. So it’s gonna be something I balance throughout the year.

“Coming into the season, I wasn’t sure which direction I was gonna start. Got a lot of fastballs in Texas, as well as here. So I’ve been getting attacked. And I think that’s just his message to me as if they’re gonna attack me in the zone to go right back at it and swing hard. … I’m gonna apply it as much as I can. Don’t want to lose what I do well, which is taking those fringe pitches. But yeah, striking out looking is unacceptable in certain situations, and that needs to get cleaned up.”