On Tuesday, May 15th, a pissed-off Carson Smith walked into the dugout and threw his glove down in frustration. Consequently, Smith hurt his shoulder and was placed on the 10-day DL. When asked to comment, Smith told reporters, “I think my shoulder is tired in general. Just from pitching. I've thrown a lot lately. And I think my arm is just tired." Naturally, many members of the media raised their eyebrows at Smith’s comments, as he seemed to be partially blaming his manager’s overuse for his own childish injury. MassLive.com asked him to clarify his comments and Smith responded, "Honestly, I don't have any comment on that. I've said what I need to say. It is what it is. I'm in the position I'm in. I've got to move forward. So I have no comment on that."
Wow, pretty glaring comments from Carson Smith, the man with 11 appearances in two full seasons with the Red Sox. Cora responded firmly, telling Dale and Keefe during his weekly interview on WEEI, “I don't agree with it, I don't agree with it. On a daily basis we talk to pitchers and how they feel. And if they don't feel like they can pitch that day, we stay away from them. It caught me by surprise. If he felt that way, he should have told it to us. He should have mentioned it."
On Carson Smith: Could this guy come off looking any worse in this story? To clarify, I actually have no problem with glove throwing. If you give up a lead in the late innings and you want to break a bullpen telephone, flip a water jug or smack the ball boy across the face, I really don’t care. It means you’re a competitor, and I love competitive ballplayers. This, however, came across as just plain whiny. Carson Smith wasn’t frustrated that he gave up a 600-foot bomb to Khris “with a K” Davis to lose a ballgame; he’s mad because he’s sucked this season and he feels bad for himself. That just doesn’t play to baseball fans, especially not in Boston. Then, to go ahead and blame Alex Cora for how you childishly reacted to feeling sorry for yourself is just that: childish.
On Alex Cora: I actually think that Alex Cora came away from this looking pretty good. He needed a story like this, as he has soured in the eyes of the Boston baseball media despite a smoking 29-14 start as rookie manager of the Sox. Much like Bruce Cassidy of the Boston Bruins, Cora has taken over for a manager that had an incredibly passive style and has instilled a refreshing wave of transparency and (sometimes) brutal honesty. My only concern is that this might not have been the issue Cora should’ve chosen to shake up the clubhouse. It’s tough to say for certain what kind of clout Smith has in the Red Sox locker room, but he’s a relatively well-respected major-leaguer despite his injury troubles last year. I simply don’t think that sending a message to Carson Smith is worth potentially dividing the clubhouse, especially a week after calling out David Price, a guy that we all know can sway the hearts and minds of the younger ballplayers in Boston. Early on, it’s all working out for Cora--something that’s historically true of the hard-nosed, no-nonsense manager types. But these types also have extremely short shelf lives, as the schtick that made them successful in their first few seasons begins to wear on veteran players. Alex Cora needs to pick and choose his battles, or he will end up as the MLB’s Jim Harbaugh: having lost a locker room filled with incredibly talented, young players despite early success.
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