Red Sox Journal: Cora has priorities in order

BOSTON — No wonder the Red Sox are off to such a good start. They have a manager who is very good at prioritizing.

Take the team’s trip back from Houston, for instance. The Sox flew out of Texas later than scheduled after Sunday night’s game and did not get home until 9 a.m. or so on Monday. While baseball folks have traditionally loved complaining about bad travel — remember Roger Clemens whining about carrying his bags [...]

BOSTON — No wonder the Red Sox are off to such a good start. They have a manager who is very good at prioritizing.

Take the team’s trip back from Houston, for instance. The Sox flew out of Texas later than scheduled after Sunday night’s game and did not get home until 9 a.m. or so on Monday. While baseball folks have traditionally loved complaining about bad travel — remember Roger Clemens whining about carrying his bags through the airport? — Alex Cora had no problem with this little snafu.

“It was mechanical problems,” he said. “Somebody asked me about it and I went, ‘We can’t complain about this. It’s either get in at 9 or take our chances. I want to get home [alive].' ”

Pomeranz on goes DL

Drew Pomeranz is the latest addition to the disabled list. He has biceps tendinitis, something he came down with supposedly after his start in Houston last Thursday. Pomeranz’s DL time has been backdated to June 2.

Brandon Workman was recalled from Pawtucket to take Pomeranz’s place on the roster. Workman will be used in relief.

Cora is still undecided on a starting pitcher for Thursday’s game against Detroit.

All-Star candidate

The campaign to make Mitch Moreland an All-Star began on Tuesday night with Cora saying, “I was looking at numbers around the league. I hate to look ahead, but the way things are going he should be a guy who’s playing in Washington in a month and a half.”

Moreland is having the best offensive season of his career, including a batting average about 50 points higher than his career average. He started fast last year and tailed off, but that was largely — the Sox think — because he played much of the time with a broken toe.

Vazquez in lineup

Cora reversed course on Tuesday night’s starting catcher, which he had hinted would be Blake Swihart. Instead, Christian Vazquez was behind the plate for Boston with Steven Wright on the mound.

“He had a big swing this weekend,” said Cora of Vazquez, who homered in Houston. “He’s been working hard. I don’t think it’s fair for Blake to go out there and catch a knuckleballer for seven innings. He will catch this week. I’m not going to tell you when, but he will catch a game this week.”

Homegrown talent

With Workman replacing Pomeranz on the 25-man roster, 14 of the Red Sox’ active players have never played for any major-league team other than Boston. Nine of those players were acquired via the amateur draft.

The Red Sox’ disabled list payroll is up to $30,631,000 and they are paying players off the roster — Hanley Ramirez, Pablo Sandoval, Allen Craig, Rusney Castillo — more than $50 million.

Workman was assigned No. 44, a change from the No. 67 he wore in his first three seasons in a Boston uniform. Chili Davis wore 44 during his three years as Red Sox batting coach. The last Boston player with 44 was Jackie Bradley Jr. in 2013.

Record pace

J.D. Martinez is way ahead of Dick Stuart’s pace as he attempts to become just the 10th Red Sox batter to hit 30 or more home runs in his debut season for Boston. Stuart holds the record with 42 in 1963, his first year in a Sox uniform.

Martinez hit his 20th in the first inning on Tuesday night. It was Boston’s 61st game of the year. Stuart hit his 20th on July 24, 1963 in Boston's 96th game.