Alex Cora no longer a fit
It finally clicked in my brain. The moment I realized the Red Sox are far away from being a competitive baseball team. It only took twelve games to find out, even after a 7-3 start going into a home stand at Fenway Park. It was the 9-4 loss to Baltimore on Thursday night where I was convinced Alex Cora is not the right manager for the Red Sox anymore. It didn’t get any better on Friday night against the Angels and it’s only a matter of time before a change should be made. The Red Sox now lead the Majors with 15 errors, they have more errors than games played this season
The defense has been one of the biggest issues for the team over the last few seasons. It’s hard to understand how someone who was a very good defender as a player, yet the team he manages are one of the worst defensive teams in the league. The group isn’t ready for many reasons other than with the glove. Routine double-plays and missing the bag, not knowing when you are going into the game as a pitcher, getting ejected and losing the designated hitter putting your team in an awful position. The situational awareness of this group is not on ownership. It’s on the manager, who feels as though “this is where we are at” and “who we are” referenced after a loss.
We have seen the success Cora has had as a manager. His start with Houston a winning a world series to winning one as the manager in 2018 with Boston. He can manage good teams when he has an “advantage”. When it comes to grooming players and managing a middle-tier roster, he has been below average. And considering he is in the final year of his deal, he must know the end is near and is thinking about his next opportunity away from Boston. Ownership took a ton of heat in the offseason for not acquiring pitching help. They have also lost many of the local fanbase and we haven’t made it out of the month of April. It’s very clear that the Red Sox will not be competitive this year with Alex Cora and beyond.