Alex Cora Explains Surprise Benching Of Red Sox Superstar Vs. Cardinals

Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora

Alex Cora Explains Surprise Benching Of Red Sox Superstar Vs. Cardinals originally appeared on NESN. Add NESN as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

For the second time in eight games, the Boston Red Sox's best player was not in the starting lineup on Friday.

After benching Roman Anthony in the Red Sox's previous road game against the Houston Astros on April 1, Alex Cora held him out of the lineup again for Friday's series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals.

While Anthony has been scuffling to start the year, Cora did not use that as the reason why Anthony wasn't in Friday's lineup against Dustin May. Instead, he cited Boston's outfield logjam, which has cost Jarren Duran playing time as well.

"We gotta play everybody. Masa is putting good at-bats, we need him to keep going. J.D. didn't play a few games during the week. This is the rotation," Cora told NESN prior to Friday's game. "We gotta maximize the roster, and today was his day. He's ready to pinch-hit, but if he can get a full day off, that would be great. Two in a row, he'll play the rest of the road trip."

Finding playing time and regular at-bats for everyone has been challenging for Cora, as he has five outfielders for four spots (including DH) with Anthony, Duran, Wilyer Abreu, Ceddanne Rafaela and Masataka Yoshida.

After two weeks of mixing and matching, Cora thinks he's starting to get the hang of it.

"I'm starting to feel more comfortable the way I'm gonna use them during the game," Cora added. "It's a learning experience. It's different, right? To manage this roster and maximize their abilities. When are we gonna use them, when are we not gonna use them. And I think little by little, feel comfortable with what we're trying to accomplish."

While Cora is doing his best to navigate a tricky situation, the results have been disappointing so far. The Red Sox's offense has been below average to start the year, in large part because two of their best hitters, Anthony and Duran, are slumping. The inconsistent playing time probably isn't helping, as it makes it harder for them to get in a rhythm and get their timing down.

With Anthony out of the lineup on Friday, Duran replaced him in left field and Yoshida took Duran's spot at DH. Duran also replaced Anthony's spot in the batting order, moving up to leadoff.

More MLB: Craig Breslow Gives Roman Anthony Huge Vote Of Confidence Amid Surprising Slump