Alex Cora Will Make Sure These Red Sox Get Real Playing Chances

BOSTON — The Red Sox are set in trying a platoon to start the post-Triston Casas direction of the season at first base.

It’s on Romy Gonzalez and Abraham Toro for now.

Toro got the start Tuesday night against the Texas Rangers and Gonzalez already started against left-handed pitching even when Casas was healthy. There have been countless suggestions of internal and external solutions to the first base void for the Red Sox. For now, Alex Cora wants to trust his current platoon.

“We’ll mix and match, it’s up to the coaches,” Cora said Wednesday. “See what makes sense as far as the matchup. Thinking about later in the game. We’ll go from there.”

Cora reaffirmed that matchups will dictate situations for each player, who could pinch-hit or enter as defensive replacements for each other based on those matchups.

The Rafael Devers conversation around first base still dominates Boston headlines. He’s just one player suggested for a positional shift to first base. When asked what he needed to see from a player or a player’s profile to consider them for time at first base, Cora paused. Then, he backed his current platoon.

“I don’t know, man,” Cora replied. “That’s a loaded question. … We’re going to give Romy and Toro the chance to play. We will. I think they can be a good platoon situation. They’re athletic. They’re good hitters. Let’s give them a chance, see what happens. If it doesn’t work out, that’s not what we hope, then we’ll look for another avenue to improve that position.”