Cora getting restless about waiting games

It wasn’t the lineup card Alex Cora [stats] was hoping to see. But one thing the Red Sox [team stats] utility infielder has become good at during his four seasons with the team is bracing for any circumstance.

Cora left Fenway Park [map] on Friday night knowing that just because of Julio Lugo [stats]’s injured left quadriceps, sliding into the starting spot at shortstop was anything but a certainty. It was a reality he was forced to face sooner than anticipated, with rookie Jed Lowrie getting the starting nod for the first game of what figures to be 4-6 weeks of the Sox being without Lugo.

“There is always that itch,” Cora said of his desire to play on an everyday basis. “I love what we do here and the way Tito (Francona) treats me. But sometimes we don’t hear what we have to hear, and you have to respect that.”

Francona explained right now there won’t be any firm plan of attack when it comes to utilizing the switch-hitting Lowrie and Cora.

The 32-year-old Cora figures to be in the starting lineup today, considering he owns a .407 career batting average against Baltimore starter Daniel Cabrera. But without the starting nod last night, Cora’s only chance at back-to-back starts came in the Sox series in Minnesota and Baltimore when he was inserted in the starting lineup four straight games, from May 11-14.

“Every time you send A.C. out there, you know what you’re getting,” Francona said. “You hit the ball to him, he catches it, he knows where to go and it’s reassuring. Part of our responsibility is to play him enough where he can be sharp, and we struggle through that sometimes, but this won’t be a time when it’s hard for him because he’ll play enough.”

Cora’s primary responsibility since returning from an early-season elbow injury has been to serve as a defensive replacement for Lugo. Including a late-innings appearance last night, he has now played in 35 games, 15 as the starter.

As he heads into what could be his best opportunity at carving out more playing time, Cora admitted that between his injury, and sporadic appearances in what is the final year of a two-year deal, this has been nothing like he has experienced in the past.

“It’s been more of a challenge,” Cora said. “First of all it was physically, going on the DL for the first time. Second of all, the two guys in front of me (Lugo and second baseman Dustin Pedroia [stats]) have been doing a great job, and it’s been kind of hard getting at-bats. The role is hard anyway, but it’s been tougher this year.”

With Lowrie having similar success from both sides of the plate during his time with Triple-A Pawtucket, hitting .277 from the left and .250 from the right, the immediate future might not lend itself to a straight platoon between the rookie and the left-handed-hitting Cora.

But with the memory of his two straight seasons as a starter with the Dodgers (2003-04) still fresh, Cora is angling to start walking down that same sort of path once again.

“This is what you prepare yourself for,” he said. “You’re not hoping for injuries, but if it happens you can’t let something like this deviate the team from what you want to accomplish. That is why you come and work early, for situations like this. We’ll see how it plays out.”

(bostonherald.com)