FORT MYERS, Fla. – Red Sox spring training games begin at JetBlue Park on Friday, and Alex Cora isn’t wasting any time getting his Major League arms on the mound.

On Friday, when the Sox host Northeastern University for their annual exhibition contest, “a bunch of relievers” will face the college kids, Cora said.

Garrett Whitlock will make the first start of the official games on Saturday at 1:05 p.m. when the Sox head to the Baltimore Orioles’ spring training complex.

Brayan Bello and Lucas Giolito, each of whom threw two innings of live batting practice on Tuesday, are candidates to start on Sunday or Monday, followed by Nick Pivetta, who will pitch against his former team, the Phillies, on Tuesday.

Pivetta and Tanner Houck each threw two up-down innings of live BP on Wednesday, and earned rave reviews from their manager.

“Tanner was really good today,” Cora said. “Velocity was very up there, good action on slider.”

“Nick, the fastball was hopping,” the skipper added. “For the first up-and-down, it was really good.”

Velocity has increased this year, in general, as has the size of the pitchers doing the throwing. Cora spoke about it while discussing Justin Slaten, a new member of the 40-man roster who’s fighting for a spot on the Opening Day squad.

“Velocity, movement, obviously you gotta make sure he throws that over the heart of the plate, but so far so good,” Cora said of Slaten. “Big boy, good stuff.”

“If you look around, I think we’re a little bit bigger in that department this year,” he added. “A lot of big bodies, a lot of big dudes, and nasty stuff, so we just gotta make sure we throw that nasty stuff over the heart of the plate, and take our chances.

“Decision-making at 97, 98 (mph) is a lot more difficult than at 90, 91, and last year, we had no velo,” Cora explained. “We had some nasty pitches, right? Good sliders, cutters, and all that, but velocity wasn’t a part of our repertoire, and this year, it’s gonna be a little bit different.”

Several pitchers have also improved from working with veteran catcher Roberto Pérez, who is imparting wisdom while rehabbing from shoulder surgery.

“They’re very pleased, they like him, the feedback was really good,” Cora said after Pérez worked with Pivetta and Houck.

“He comes from a great pitching program,” he lauded, “and they did an outstanding job, and he was a big part of it. He’s won a Gold Glove before, or two.”

Back-to-back Gold Gloves, in fact, with Cleveland in ‘20 and ‘21.

“The main thing with him, and why people, teams keep calling him, is because of what he can do behind the plate,” the skipper added.

As for the Opening Day starter, it’s still too early for him to name names. Earlier in the week, he joked about tabbing Chris Sale for the job, only to see him traded to the Atlanta Braves.

However, Cora did make it a point to say that building up Brayan Bello is a priority for the beginning of the season. “The goal here is to get him ready to pitch in the big leagues, to pitch in the regular season as soon as possible,” he said.

Asked if that meant Opening Day, all the manager would say was, “To pitch in the big leagues as soon as possible.”

A complete player

Wilyer Abreu also received some high praise from Cora on Wednesday.

As the rookie outfielder competes for a roster spot, his manager wants him to, “Just keep doing the things that he did last year.”

“He’s a good player,” Cora said. “He’s a good defender, puts good at-bats, hits the ball hard, he runs the bases well. He’s a complete player.”

The Red Sox acquired Abreu at the ’22 trade deadline, when they dealt Christian Vázquez to the Houston Astros. Cora raved about Abreu last spring training, too. He debuted on August 22, and collected 24 hits, including six doubles and two home runs, in 28 games.

They see him playing right-field. “His arm plays, his actions,” the skipper explained, “I mean, this guy’s really good.”

Overall, Cora believes the Sox outfielder crew is “more athletic than last year, so we can move guys around.”

“The guys that we have, they’re gonna go get ‘em: Tyler (O’Neill), he’s won a Gold Glove, he’s very quick, he reads,” he said, “and then Abreu, we’ll see what the future holds, but we’re comfortable with him playing right field.”