LISTEN: Alex Cora talks strikeouts, “pillars” of Red Sox’ offensive approach
Under the circumstances, we thought it was a good time to talk to Alex Cora again about the Red Sox’ prospensity to strike out a lot.
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – JUNE 09: Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora argues with an umpire after Romy Gonzalez #23 of the Boston Red Sox was ejected from the game in the eleventh inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Fenway Park on June 09, 2025 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Jaiden Tripi/Getty Images)
Under the circumstances, we thought it was a good time to talk to Alex Cora again about the Red Sox' prospensity to strike out a lot and the team's overall offensive approach.
Before we even begin: this may or may not interest you. Over the course of baseball history, batter strikeouts in baseball have most often been linked to power.
Guys like Adam Dunn, Eugenio Suarez and Dave Kingman have struck out at extraordinary rates but hit mountains of home runs and baseball's all-time strikeouts leader, Reggie Jackson, was one of the great power hitters and clutch performers (hence the title "Mr. October") in the history of the game and finished with 563 home runs.
Generally speaking, you trade one (the strikeouts) for the other (the home runs). The 2025 New York Yankees, for instance, finished third in the majors in strikeouts - the Red Sox ultimately finished eighth - but led all of baseball in home runs. The Red Sox finished a perfectly mediocre 15th.
Of all the comments Cora made Friday in the several minutes he talked about strikeouts and hitting philosophies, the most notable was, perhaps, this:
“I don’t think we are this team (in terms of strikeouts). We will put the ball in play, but all of a sudden, you’re not going to go from a 28% strikeout rate to 18%. Impossible. If you’ve got that guy, let me know. If you’ve got that hitting coach, let me know. I’ll give him my salary and I’ll retire. It’s not gonna happen.”
Full comments: Alex Cora on the Red Sox offense
Obviously, everyone is entitled to believe what they believe. I happen to agree with Cora on this one. Red Sox shortstop Trevor Story is 33 years old and has a career strikeout rate of more than 28%. No one can coach him into becoming Luis Arraez (a major league-best 3.1 strikeout percentage last season). He is who he is. But the question about hitting approach and strikeouts is a topic we discuss frequently on The Baseball Hour and one that callers frequently bring up.
As such, we decided to put Cora's entire exchange online - roughly eight and a half minutes of audio. You can listen to his comments above and decide for yourself. While impertinent or unrelated questions were eliminated, Cora's answers to the specific questions were not.
