Red Sox Alex Cora delivers blunt message to players after latest disappointment

Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora is frustrated with his team and sent a blunt message to his team.

Boston lost 10-4 on May 18 to the Atlanta Braves to lose the series to fall to 23-25 and are five games back of the leading New York Yankees. After another lackluster series, Cora sent a brash message to his team as the manager expects more.

“They need to step up,” Cora said, bluntly, after Sunday’s loss. “That’s the bottom line. We have to step up as a rotation. It’s not only Garrett. It’s everybody. We have to do a better job as a group.”

The Red Sox entered the 2025 Major League Baseball season with expectations of not just making the playoffs, but also competing for a World Series. 

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However, it has been a slow start and Cora says he’s no longer up for moral victories as he says the team just needs to start winning.

“It has felt like this for three weeks, but it doesn’t matter, right? The record is the record,” said Cora. “There’s no moral victories, right? We lost the game. We’ve got to finish innings, we’ve got to finish at-bats. We have to get better. Does it feel like we’re way off? No. But it’s another loss in the column.”

The Red Sox are three games back of the final Wild Card spot and will need to get hot soon to make a run at the playoffs.

Boston will return to the field on May 19 at home against the New York Mets.

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