Red Sox Manager Praises Infielder For Challenging Aaron Judge’s Arm

Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora has plenty of praise for infielder Eric Sogard for his performance in Game 1 of the Wild Card Series against the New York Yankees on Tuesday.

Sogard went 2-for-4, and in the top of the seventh, he stretched a hit toward Aaron Judge to a double. The utility man knew right away he was going to be testing Judge’s arm.

“It kind of took a while to field it, and it was Judge fielding it, and I just tried to challenge the arm in that spot,” Sogard said, via MLB.com.

Sogard stretching the double led to him scoring on a single by Masataka Yoshida to give Boston a 2-1 lead.

Following the Red Sox’s 3-1 win, Cora was impressed with Sogard’s preparation, knowing that he could challenge Judge’s arm as the outfielder is still recovering from an injury.

“That’s preparation,” Cora said. “We talk about their outfielders and what can we do or what we cannot do, and he saw it right away and took advantage of it.”

Since returning from the injured list, Judge has made just two throws harder than 80mph, according to Statcast, and before the injury, he regularly was throwing in the 90s.

However, the throw into second on Sogard’s double was tracked at 73.2 mph, and the utility man knew when he hit it to the slugger he was going to try for second base.

“Yeah, it was something we went over before the game,” said Sogard. “Just reading the play and how he fielded it, it felt like a good time to make that decision.”

The Red Sox will look to sweep the Yankees in the Wild Card Series on Wednesday. First pitch for Game 2 is set for 6:08 p.m. ET.