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By Jon Paul Hoornstra
Contributing Sports Writer
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The Boston Red Sox were 10-17 in April when Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow made the decision to fire manager Alex Cora and five coaches.
In a new interview with the Baseball Isn't Boring podcast, Cora revealed what he believes was the "real reason" he was let go.
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"I honestly feel like we got fired — or I got fired — because we didn't pitch in the month of April," Cora said. "As simple as that. The two games in Minnesota, right, (Garrett) Crochet and Sonny (Gray), they struggled. Go to the Houston series. We went Ranger (Suarez) and (Brayan) Bello and Crochet. (Yordan) Alvarez got to us.
"We didn't pitch," Cora continued. "We were in that situation in April because we didn't pitch and that was something that I told the coaches before: we have to make sure we get it right."
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The Red Sox went 77-58 under Chad Tracy, who was ultimately give the manager's title for the rest of the 2026 season and beyond. Only the Tampa Bay Rays, who are currently playing in the World Series, had a better record in the American League during that span.
To Cora's point: Red Sox pitchers were instrumental to the turnaround, perhaps even more so than Tracy.
More news: Controversial Call Ends Game 2 of World Series
Through April 25, Boston's pitchers had a 4.44 ERA and 5.53 FIP. By FanGraphs' version of Wins Above Replacement, they combined for 1.0 WAR — 27th in MLB.
After that date, Red Sox pitchers combined for 22.3 fWAR, more than any other pitching staff. Their 3.36 ERA was second only to the New York Yankees (3.26).
More news: Rays’ World Series Meltdown Sparks Junior Caminero’s Fiery Dugout Outburst
Notably, the coaches who were fired along with Cora had little or nothing to do with the team's pitchers: Hitting coach Peter Fatse, bench coach Ramon Vazquez, third-base coach Kyle Hudson, assistant hitting coach Dillon Lawson and major league hitting strategy coach Joe Cronin.
Jason Varitek held the title of "game planning/run prevention coach" when he was reassigned on the same day in April. Though he ultimately left the organization, it would be difficult to attribute the Boston pitchers' turnaround to Varitek's removal.
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