Are the Red Sox Better Off Without Alex Cora

Zak Drapeau
3 minutes ago
3 min read

by Zak Drapeau

Sportz Nation - 5/12/2026

Since becoming interim Manager of the Boston Red Sox on April 25th, Chad Tracy has brought the Red Sox to a 7-6 record including a series sweep of the Detroit Tigers.

After a day off on Monday and a series against the Phillies in Boston about to begin, It's time to examine the brief but telling stint of Chad Tracy as Red Sox Manager and what impact he's had in the wake of Cora's firing.

Alex Cora is a players' coach and was beloved by everyone in the Red Sox locker room. The management is a completely different story but that's a story for a whole separate article. Chad Tracy also had tremendous praise from everyone in Worcester as the Woo Sox Manager, where he led the Red Sox' affiliate to 3 winning seasons and was described as a "Super Pro".

To start the season, Alex Cora's Red Sox got off to a notoriously disappointing start with a 10-17 record. Not only was the team's overall record bad but the team's supposed stars to start the season were slow out of the gate as well. Players like Garrett Crochet, Roman Anthony and Jarren Duran among others just didn't have their same stuff as they did in the 2025 season.

In the middle of the Orioles' series on April 25th, the Red Sox announced after a 17-1 win that not only was Alex Cora let go of as Manager, but their hitting coach, assistant hitting coach, hitting strategy coach, 3rd base coach and bench coach were also shown the door. It is still unclear, but run prevention coach Jason Varitek was also "reassigned" in this shakeup in a move everyone expects will also lead to his resignation.

MassLive.com reported that Cora's firing was only the 2nd time in MLB history that a Manager was fired in April after making the Playoffs a season ago.

So now we start the Chad Tracy era even if it is only as "Interim Manager".

So far, the changes have shown to be working in the short term. Tracy's Red Sox are 7-6 including a series sweep of the Detroit Tigers. The team has been driving in runs at a slower rate but their run prevention has been better. Under Cora, the team was averaging 4.15 runs per game but allowing 4.63. So far with Tracy, they are averaging 3.39 runs per game but only allowing 3.31.

I know Tracy's sample size is only 13 games, but so far Tracy's Red Sox have given up over 1 full run per game. A big factor for their run prevention as of late is an uptick in recent performances from their starting pitchers like Ranger Suarez, Sonny Gray and even the latest 7 inning-game versus the Tigers from Brayan Bello.

Here's the thing, in Tracy's first 13 games the Rays are the only team with an above .500 record, who they lost 2 out of 3 games to. In the midst of a particularly "easy" stretch of schedule that includes only 2 teams above .500 in 9 series, Tracy has been given the luxury of being eased into the role rather than to be thrown into the deep end.

In the end, Tracy is admired and respected in the Woo Sox and Red Sox organizations. Maybe not as much as Cora was but he's close.

The team is in a very rare position where they changed managers so early in the season with over 120 games left. With such a long season, the Red Sox still have time to climb back into AL East contention especially while the American League seems so much weaker than its' National counterpart.

The team needed to be reset after years of not quite living up to potential and with the roster's massive turnaround in the last 2 seasons. I do believe the Sox are better off with Tracy as it seems to have galvanized the team and lit a fire under them.

How long will that fire last especially without a veteran Manager to keep the flames lit throughout this 7-month long season? We're going to have to tune in every night to see.

On to Philly!