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PHOENIX, ARIZONA - SEPTEMBER 05: Manager Alex Cora #13 of the Boston Red Sox watches the action against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the fourth inning at Chase Field on September 05, 2025 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images)

The Boston Red Sox have absolutely cleaned house amid a poor start to the 2026 campaign, firing manager Alex Cora and the majority of their coaching staff.

It was a massive surprise when Craig Breslow decided to relieve Cora of his duties on Saturday evening in Baltimore, but the front office clearly believed it was a time for a change, even if numerous players were upset by the news.

As we know, baseball is a team sport, and a manager can only do so much. Yes, he can roll out the right players and make the correct pitching decisions throughout games. However, in the end, he simply cannot win games on his own, and that’s exactly what former Red Sox outfielder Kevin Pillar tried to hit home in his reaction to Cora being let go.

Via Blue Bird Territory:

“I was on a couple of teams where managers got fired after a season, never during a season, and you take a ton of responsibility for it because ultimately, no matter how great a hitting coach is, no matter how great a manager is, no matter how good a pitching coach is, players play game,” Pillar said.

“It’s not on the coaches to win and lose games. There are maybe some decision that a manager has to make throughout a game, but, once again, say a manager has a decision to make as to who we’re going to go to in the bullpen, and he has choice A and choice B, and choice A doesn’t get it done. Ultimately, GM put A and B in the bullpen.

“I hate it for the people involved.”

Boston Red Sox Looking For a Spark

GettyBALTIMORE, MD – APRIL 25: Ceddanne Rafaela #3 of the Boston Red Sox celebrates with teammates after the game against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on April 25, 2026 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)

The Red Sox are sitting at the bottom of the American League East with an 11-17 record, winning two straight over the weekend against the Baltimore Orioles. Boston fired Cora just hours after the team exploded for 17 runs, but the reality is, this ball club has been underwhelming.

They’re 19th in runs, 20th in average, 28th in slugging, and 28th in home runs. Unfortunately, a coach is always to blame, but this is the sad reality in every single sport. That being said, it’s become quite rare in the big leagues for a skipper to get canned this early.

A Bold Decision

Firing a manager in April is one thing, but parting ways with nearly the entire coaching staff is another. Breslow explained the decision and expressed a belief in this current roster’s ability to turn things around with new guidance:

“It really comes down to the belief that we have the players and the belief that we have in the group to accomplish what we set out to accomplish by acting today,” Breslow said. “It gives us 135 games ahead of us, so we’ve got almost a full season’s worth of run to take advantage of this fresh start and ultimately to compete for a division.”

Cora was in the second year of a three-year extension. We’ll see if the Red Sox can turn things around in a hurry, but there’s no guarantee that a new skipper will make the difference.

As Pillar said, it simply comes down to performing, no matter who is calling the shots.