Cora and 4 coaches sacked!

[JoeBrady]

1 hour ago, notin said:

… and that might be why he didn’t ask about Abreu..

I have no idea why, but I am forever interchanging those two names.  But I expect Duran to out-perform Yoshida.

[Yaz Fan Since 67]

17 hours ago, Maxbialystock said:

You may have said "don't lead off with Anthony" back during spring training, but, had I read it, I would have disagreed.  Anthony was brought up last year because they thought he was ready.   They already had three outfielders--Duran, Rafaela, and Abreu--plus Refsnyder as a back up.  

Anthony was huge leading off last year, the best hitter on the team.  And he had been great in the minors.  

I don't of course disagree he has strugggled  this season, but guess what?  No one else has excelled leading off.  The new guy has Anthony batting 3d.  Does that mean he's an idiot too?   

I said nothing about where Anthony hits in the lineup.  I thought my point was clear.  They have a weak lineup and it appears as if they were counting on Roman Anthony to carry a big load and that was kind of a stupid plan if that was it.  

[jad]

10 hours ago, JoeBrady said:

I have no idea why, but I am forever interchanging those two names.  But I expect Duran to out-perform Yoshida.

He hasn't yet.

[Old Red]

The firing of Alex Cora by the Three Stooges is like crapping in your pants, and then changing your shirt. Best one I’ve heard so far.👏

[JoeBrady]

3 hours ago, jad said:

He hasn't yet.

Which is fine.  But I'm betting on future results.

[moonslav59]

29 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

Which is fine.  But I'm betting on future results.

Like that Duran finishes with a higher seasonal OPS than Yoshida?

[Old Red]

It seems more things are coming out. Supposedly bresLOW wanted to fire Fatse, and some of the other coaches last year, but Bregman talked him out of it, because they had helped Bregman.🤔

[jad]

28 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Like that Duran finishes with a higher seasonal OPS than Yoshida?

Probably should wait for their career stats to decide which one to play.

[moonslav59]

6 minutes ago, jad said:

Probably should wait for their career stats to decide which one to play.

As of now, they are very close:

.766 Duran (,258 in 12 PAs in playoffs)

,760 Yoshida (1.143 in 7 playoff PAs)

[jad]

12 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

As of now, they are very close:

.766 Duran (,258 in 12 PAs in playoffs)

,760 Yoshida (1.143 in 7 playoff PAs)

I imagine the RS will trade/release one of them (which they probably should do), and there will follow  series of 'articles' or 'leaks' about what a bad team-mate he was.

[sk7326]

5 hours ago, Yaz Fan Since 67 said:

I said nothing about where Anthony hits in the lineup.  I thought my point was clear.  They have a weak lineup and it appears as if they were counting on Roman Anthony to carry a big load and that was kind of a stupid plan if that was it.  

Right now it seems like he is just too passive at the plate - not sure anybody planned on that. 

[JoeBrady]

1 hour ago, moonslav59 said:

Like that Duran finishes with a higher seasonal OPS than Yoshida?

Like a higher WAR.  It seems like the OPS will be close, but the baserunning dynamism of Duran v the Joe Brady-esque speed of Yoshi is, let's say different.

[JoeBrady]

53 minutes ago, Old Red said:

It seems more things are coming out. Supposedly bresLOW wanted to fire Fatse, and some of the other coaches last year, but Bregman talked him out of it, because they had helped Bregman.🤔

I mentioned that earlier.  Some managers and coaches become a package deal.  If we were talking about Tito, then Tito makes the decision.  But if you're on the fence about Cora, and he gives you a hard time about Fatse, then they both go.

And it is always difficult to tell how much of this is on the player and how much of it is on the coach, but I've been extremely displeased with our OBP over the past two years.

[JoeBrady]

8 minutes ago, sk7326 said:

Right now it seems like he is just too passive at the plate - not sure anybody planned on that. 

That's a development/experience issue.  Some players come in swinging at everything and then cut back as they see more pitches.  Others come in overly selective.  It isn't necessarily a bad thing. 

I was looking at Mayer's stats earlier, and noticed he has -0- Ks in his last 9 games and a 1/5 K/W in his last 40 ABs.  This is a guy that had 41/8 last year in only 127 ABs.  IMO, the start of good hitting is usually a good K/W.

[drewski6]

25 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

I mentioned that earlier.  Some managers and coaches become a package deal.  If we were talking about Tito, then Tito makes the decision.  But if you're on the fence about Cora, and he gives you a hard time about Fatse, then they both go.

And it is always difficult to tell how much of this is on the player and how much of it is on the coach, but I've been extremely displeased with our OBP over the past two years.

Things arent necessarily how they appear. Both last year and this year, our OBP rank among teams is significantly better than our power metrics.  In addition, our strikeout metrics arent nearly as terrible as our xtra base hits/slugging/homerun metrics.

[drewski6]

35 minutes ago, sk7326 said:

Right now it seems like he is just too passive at the plate - not sure anybody planned on that. 

We've been way too passive as a team. Thats what happens when you have count - workers and not mistake pitch attackers.  We are actually NOT swinging enough, especially early in counts.

[drewski6]

24 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

That's a development/experience issue.  Some players come in swinging at everything and then cut back as they see more pitches.  Others come in overly selective.  It isn't necessarily a bad thing. 

I was looking at Mayer's stats earlier, and noticed he has -0- Ks in his last 9 games and a 1/5 K/W in his last 40 ABs.  This is a guy that had 41/8 last year in only 127 ABs.  IMO, the start of good hitting is usually a good K/W.

K/W is a bit dated these days because modern hitting science is about swinging away on fastball counts, which includes 0-0.  The good hitting teams are putting the ball in play with less pitches / at-bat.  Because they are jumping on fastballs. Which we dont do.

[Larry Cook]

18 hours ago, notin said:

… and that might be why he didn’t ask about Abreu..

Thanks, I was confused about that too! 

[Jean-Sébastien Blouin]

Why is Rafaela often left out of the lineup even though he's one of the best defensive players in Major League Baseball?

[jad]

35 minutes ago, Jean-Sébastien Blouin said:

Why is Rafaela often left out of the lineup even though he's one of the best defensive players in Major League Baseball?

Isn't it the saame reason why Yoshida, Duran,  Anthony, and Abreu are 'often' left out?

[moonslav59]

2 hours ago, JoeBrady said:

Like a higher WAR.  It seems like the OPS will be close, but the baserunning dynamism of Duran v the Joe Brady-esque speed of Yoshi is, let's say different.

..and better D

[JoeBrady]

2 hours ago, drewski6 said:

Things arent necessarily how they appear. Both last year and this year, our OBP rank among teams is significantly better than our power metrics.  In addition, our strikeout metrics arent nearly as terrible as our xtra base hits/slugging/homerun metrics.

Fair comment.  I guess my opinion is more a reflection for my preference for OBP over SLG.

[JoeBrady]

1 hour ago, Jean-Sébastien Blouin said:

Why is Rafaela often left out of the lineup even though he's one of the best defensive players in Major League Baseball?

I agree.  He is currently our best all-around OF.  He should play every day and let the other three battle for playing time.

[jad]

43 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

I agree.  He is currently our best all-around OF.  He should play every day and let the other three battle for playing time.

You cannot sit your best player (Abreu) in order to give Rafy time.

[moonslav59]

And, Rafaela is one of the few Sox players where L-R splits don't really matter.

[Maxbialystock]

On 4/29/2026 at 7:14 AM, Yaz Fan Since 67 said:

I said nothing about where Anthony hits in the lineup.  I thought my point was clear.  They have a weak lineup and it appears as if they were counting on Roman Anthony to carry a big load and that was kind of a stupid plan if that was it.  

Agree on the weak lineup and on over-reliance on Anthony.  

Cora was offered the Phillies job as soon as they fired their manager, who may have been fired because Cora was available.

I'm beginning to think the problerm is with Breslow.  He's not to blame for Story and Yoshida, both overpaid, but last year he dumped two good bats in Devers and Bregman.  

Bregman's strong suit is pitching, which is coming apart at the seams.  

 

[Maxbialystock]

On 4/28/2026 at 2:17 PM, moonslav59 said:

Then there is this:

Lead off OBP in 2026

.354 Anthony

.143 Duran

Indeed.  

[Maxbialystock]

On 4/28/2026 at 2:12 PM, drewski6 said:

It means we dont have enough good batters.

Completely agree.  That's on Breslow more than the hitting coach.  

[notin]

On 4/29/2026 at 11:50 AM, JoeBrady said:

Like a higher WAR.  It seems like the OPS will be close, but the baserunning dynamism of Duran v the Joe Brady-esque speed of Yoshi is, let's say different.

Duran’s baserunning advantage is nullified by his .231 OBP…

[notin]

12 minutes ago, Maxbialystock said:

Agree on the weak lineup and on over-reliance on Anthony.  

Cora was offered the Phillies job as soon as they fired their manager, who may have been fired because Cora was available.

I'm beginning to think the problerm is with Breslow.  He's not to blame for Story and Yoshida, both overpaid, but last year he dumped two good bats in Devers and Bregman.  

Bregman's strong suit is pitching, which is coming apart at the seams.  

 

Let’s not overlook that they have one of the highest payrolls and one of the worst records in MLB and managed to sneak an 11 game losing streak in there.  Probably bigger factors than Cora being available.

Dombrowski fired Girardi in 2022 because the team was massively underperforming. He didn’t can Girardi solely because Rob Thomson was available…