How Alex Cora Has Impacted Red Sox As Boston’s X-Factor
The Boston Red Sox have gotten down to work in flipping their script in 2025.
Boston underwent a five-game winning streak, locked pitcher Garrett Crochet and infielder/outfielder Kristian Campbell to multi-year contract extensions, and has shown various vast improvements on the field. Sure, the sample size (11 games) is small when considering the grand scope of a 162-game regular season, but the Red Sox have been a notable club to watch. And while there’s plenty of credit to go around, there’s one particular X-factor deserving of early recognition: Alex Cora.
“A lot of people roll their eyes when I say, ‘Look, the X-factor this season for the Red Sox, to me, isn’t a player. It’s a skipper, it’s Alex Cora,'” Travis Thomas said on NESN’s “Boston Has Entered The Chat” podcast. “… It felt like all of spring training we were talking about the (Alex) Bregman or (Rafael) Devers at third (debate), what we’re gonna do, and then the announcement came out, right? Devers wasn’t exactly thrilled at first. But I think Alex Cora, the way he handled that announcement, the way he’s handled the whole sort of reshuffling there.”
Thomas added: “Look, I think there’s something to be said when you’re skipper, a good one, a great one, is supposed to be the maestro behind the scenes, making sure everything goes smoothly. I think it’s poetic.”
Cora has endured a rough three-season stretch in which the Red Sox have finished dead last in the American League twice since 2021 — their most recent playoff appearance. Boston committed to Cora, re-signing its skipper to a three-year, $21.75 million contract extension last July, which signaled trust ahead of the offseason. Now, with the expectations raised, it’s time for the Red Sox to return to contention, and so far, so good.
You can watch the full episode of NESN’s “Boston Has Entered The Chat” here: