Alex Cora may be trying for some revisionist history now that his team has clinched a playoff berth.
The Boston Red Sox manager spoke with reporters on Saturday ahead of his team’s game against the Detroit Tigers and discussed the playoff berth that Boston had just clinched the night before. During his remarks, Cora curiously claimed that nobody thought the Red Sox would make it to the postseason, even using some profanity to illustrate his point.
“Let’s be honest, nobody thought we were gonna make it to October [when the season started],” said Cora, per Christopher Smith of MassLive. “Whoever says that, ‘Yeah, we were a playoff team,’ that’s f–ing bulls–t, to be honest with you.
“Nobody thought we were gonna make it to October,” Cora added. “It was New York. It was Baltimore, it was Toronto, you know, and we believed we were going to play in October. We set our standards every single day. And we hit our standards.”
But the fact-checkers quickly came out to dunk on Cora. Many users on X either alluded to or provided receipts about how the Red Sox were heavily favored for at least a playoff berth (if not more) before the season began.
Cora not a Fangraphs guy pic.twitter.com/B7oECNLVi9
— Blake Murphy (@BlakeMurphyODC) September 27, 2025
I picked them to win the pennant. And for half the season I felt pretty stupid.
— Jeff Fletcher (@JeffFletcherOCR) September 27, 2025
(I picked the Braves to win the NL.)
Weren't the Sox preseason favorites for the division
— Feral Yankees Fan (@FeralYankeesFan) September 27, 2025
They were picked to win the division and represent the AL in the WS by most commentators. Lol come on Cora
— Brandon Youngblood (@byoungblood27) September 27, 2025
Though the Red Sox were just an 81-81 team last season, they were a top-10 payroll team this season, having made several key upgrades to their roster such as Alex Bregman, Aroldis Chapman, and Garrett Crochet. While preseason predictions were also made based on Boston still having Rafael Devers on the roster at the time, virtually everyone had them at least making it in as a Wild Card team.
That said, Cora may simply be trying to motivate his team here and keep their fire going even after clinching a playoff berth. Cora has also faced rumors of tension with the Boston front office, so the team may need a deep postseason run this year in order to ensure long-term sustainability.
