Red Sox manager Alex Cora tested positive for COVID-19 and did not manage Thursday’s game against the Blue Jays, the team announced.
Cora tested positive shortly before the game and will not travel to St. Petersburg for this weekend’s series against the Rays, which begins Friday at Tropicana Field. He is fully vaccinated and boosted and has mild symptoms, the team said.
Second-year bench coach Will Venable managed Thursday’s game, and will continue to do so on a temporary basis until Cora is back. Venable said he knew Cora wasn’t feeling well at about 10 or 11 a.m. and he took two tests to confirm he was positive.
Venable has been in the main chair before, managing a game last season when Cora flew to Puerto Rico to attend his daughter Camila’s high school graduation. He’s ready for the role as long as it takes Cora to return.
“That’s part of my job on a daily basis to prepare for the day as if I’m going to manage and be there for Alex any way I can,” Venable said. “It really didn’t change my pregame preparation at all.”
Cora had already been isolated in a hotel room in Boston for the last week because one of his boys tested positive for the virus. He would need to test negative twice on PCR tests and get a clearance from the MLB’s joint committee to return to manage, so he could theoretically rejoin the team in St. Petersburg if that happens.
The Red Sox have already had a few players test positive early this week. Kevin Plawecki and Jonathan Arauz remain on the COVID-related injured list after testing positive and Christian Vazquez was activated Wednesday after testing positive Tuesday. Venable said no further players or staff members tested positive.
