Former Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora has a theory as to why the organization fired him in April.
"Honestly, I feel like I got fired because we didn't pitch in the month of April. As simple as that," Cora told the "Baseball Isn't Boring" podcast.
Cora said the pitching underperformed due to early struggles from key members of the rotation, bullpen implosions, and the absences of important players. The team was 10-17 when Cora was dismissed.
"We didn't pitch. 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," Cora said.
The Red Sox combined for a 4.44 ERA (20th) and 4.61 FIP (26th) while Cora was manager in 2026. They improved to a 3.36 ERA (2nd) and 3.47 FIP (1st) after Cora and five members of the coaching staff were let go April 25.
He praised the Red Sox analytics department for making quick adjustments to the pitching program and said those adjustments were a big part of why the the team made the postseason.
Cora said Boston's front office was in a difficult position because he'd been hired by a previous regime rather than former chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom or current chief baseball officer Craig Breslow.
"With all due respect of Chaim and Breslow, it was a tough situation for them," Cora said.
"This is your first job as a leader of an organization, and the manager is already there. For how much they probably respect me, or like me, or don't like me, or whatver, it's a tough one. I'm not saying I wasn't their guy, but I was Dave (Dombrowski)'s guy. We went through the process and he chose me to be the manager of the Boston Red Sox."
Cora added that he never expected the Red Sox to fire him and expressed regret about some of his behavior on social media afterward.
"Probably acted immature for a little bit there, who knows, when I got fired," Cora said. "Or posted shit that ... someone should say, 'Take the phone away from this kid.'"
Within 24 hours of the firing, he shared a photo of himself with the other fired coaches to his Instagram story and later tweeted "Happy!" with a smiley face emoji.
