AL Championship Series: Astros vs Red Sox Saturday, October 13, 2018 Alex Cora Astros pregame 1 ALEX CORA: I love it. (Laughter) no, it's tough. We THE MODERATOR: We'll open it up for questions to had some tough ones this year? When we played Alex. Baltimore, I know Buck didn't like that one -- Showalter. It's not easy. It's hard to play the game when you don't Q. Any advantage playing in cold weather against feel your hands. And you get jammed or hit one off the the Astros? end of the bat and you will not feel your hands for a ALEX CORA: We're about to find out. But, man, these while. And that's tough. guys they get a lot of stuff now. You know, like back in the day it was a pair of sleeves and that was it. Now But in our case, I think we got the right guy on the they've got all kinds of stuff. They've got the cage mound tonight. He really doesn't care about, like -- inside. he'll go out there without sleeves because he promised somebody in Chicago that he will never wear sleeves, They've got ways to stay warm. So probably going to which I don't understand. (Laughter). be a few ski masks out there. I got my money on Gurriel wearing a ski mask tonight. (Laughter) he So, yeah, it's uncomfortable. It's very uncomfortable. doesn't like the cold weather. But like I told you guys in February, you know, it's amazing how baseball players complain of cold Q. Just a thought on the 25-man roster that was weather in April and May and when October comes, for announced this morning, and Mitch and his some reason it really doesn't matter. condition as you go forward here? ALEX CORA: Yeah, he feels a lot better than in New I think the fact that you're four games away from going York. Actually, if we need him, we'll use him. With to a blocks that out, and people really just Brock playing, having those two left-handed bats, in concentrate on what they have to and they overcome case we have to pinch-hit in the middle of the game or the cold weather. late in the game, is going to help us out. They only have one lefty out of the bullpen, and he can help us. Q. How much contact with players does Laz Gutierrez have this time of year? And is that an He has some good matchups for him in this series. area of coaching that can make a difference for And we can use him early in the game or late in the guys performing in October? game knowing that Ian is not playing so we can bring in ALEX CORA: Laz first of all he doesn't tell me how Ian to play second and move Brock to first base. many meetings he has with the players. It's very private between them. But at least with me, you know, Q. hasn't thrown a lot of innings lately. we went to school together in Miami. And we have a Are you concerned that he might be rusty? What friendship. But he's helped me a lot throughout the has he done to stay sharp? season, just keeping me in the moment. Whenever I ALEX CORA: Just going through his progression, have something that I have to go through him, he's throwing bullpens and playing catch. He went through always available. it during the season. At one point he got hit, his left hand, and he didn't pitch for ten days. He came back And I know he's making a difference. Just having him and pitched well. So he'll be fine for tomorrow. around, it helps the coaching staff. It helps the players, the training staff. He's been a great asset for us. And Q. I must have heard you five times during the I'm glad that he's working with the Red Sox. season. Just a quick question of weather again, on hot, muggy days you would sit here and talk about Q. How common is the workout that you guys did how great it is and how you feel like you're right at with light BP and running around compared to home. Can I just assume you hate cold weather? other teams that you've been with? And how much ALEX CORA: I love it. do you think it helped when you guys did that for the last series too? Q. Cold weather? ALEX CORA: Yeah, the running part, that's -- it was

Rev #1 by #188 at 2018-10-13 21:11:00 GMT page 1 of 2 something the medical department decided to do. Usually we talk about swings and ground balls and we You still have to perform at the end. The thing is that forget that the most important part is your legs. here, you know, the spotlight is on the team from 6.00 a.m. until the postgame show after the Red Sox. And So they wanted them to keep their legs going and then it's nonstop. that was good to see. As far as light BP, Zander and J.D., they asked to see a few pitches. I asked them That's what the difference is. It's kind of like what the why, honestly. It's only been three days without seeing team means to the city and obviously the coverage. live BP. But they want to stay locked in. And having Like I said, this is full-court press -- 24 hours, seven Héctor around and Drew and some of the guys that are days a week. And they talk about the good things that available, it helps. we do and then the things that we have to improve, which I respect. Actually on Monday, when we go to Houston, we are going to hit -- we're going to have a workout. Usually I I understand that we have a fan base that they're very don't work out in between, during the series. But going passionate about the . They're there with the roof and the lights, I want them to hit passionate about the Patriots and the Celtics and the velocity and maybe see a few arms too on Monday so Revolution and all the teams in the area. The fans they we can be ready for Game 3. deserve that.

Q. Two questions about David. Was the last Is it fair sometimes? Is it fair? Yeah, sometimes. Is it outing, did you see any mechanical changes that unfair? Yeah, maybe. But if you can play baseball you needed to be made? And is there concern with the can play baseball here or in or Venezuela, cold weather considering the struggles he had in as long as you work on your craft and keep doing the April? things you're supposed to do. ALEX CORA: About the cold weather, I read somewhere in social media that his only postseason Q. Can you talk about Zander and how important start he went nine -- under 50 degrees -- he went nine will he be in this series? innings and gave up two runs. So small sample size ALEX CORA: Xander, he's my favorite of the but he was good. series. Leave it at that.

He's fine. We feel that if he attacks the way he did in THE MODERATOR: Thank you. the second half using his fastball in different spots and creating differences in his velocity, he'll be good. It seems like the velocity of his cutter and his sinker and four-seamer and the changeup, they were all together the last three, I want to say, location-wise, everything came together in the same spot.

But we did talk about it in the off day in New York. And he understands. And we expect him to go out there tomorrow and attack them in a different way and give us a good start.

Q. Yesterday Brian Cashman had talked about he thought Sonny Gray would pitch better if he was out of New York. And you played in Boston and New York. Does that become a real thing for players, that does it start to snowball on them if they don't have success in a certain place, in Boston or New York, just because of the spotlight? Or do you think it's just the narrative comes to a point where it just becomes impossible to escape it? ALEX CORA: I think it's more for the people outside the clubhouse. I do believe that if you put your work and you work on your craft, you can play here. And you can play in New York. You can play in Miami.

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