Red Sox rookie manager Alex Cora off to historic start

Alex Cora’s 15-2 start at the helm of the Boston Red Sox is the best record by a rookie manager at this point of the season in the modern era.

The announcement that Alex Cora had been hired as the next manager of the Boston Red Sox initially came with mixed reviews.

Cora came with the reputation of a being a great communicator, someone who could relate to the young core of this team to bring out the best in them. His personality was the polar opposite of former manager John Farrell, which was reason enough for many fans to sign off on the decision. However, Cora had never managed before at any level outside of Winter Ball. Would his youth and inexperience become a liability to a team with championship aspirations?

The early returns have emphatically shown that Cora is up for the challenge. Not only is he thriving at the helm of the Red Sox, he’s entering uncharted levels of success for a rookie manager.

Boston owns the best record in baseball at 15-2. No other major league team has more than 13 wins or fewer than four losses. Their +60 run differential nearly doubles anyone else and they hold a three-game lead over the surprising Toronto Blue Jays in the AL East.

The Red Sox are only the seventh team to start a season 15-2 or better in the live ball era, which dates back to 1920. The last team to start out this well was the 2003 San Francisco Giants. That team was led by Felipe Alou during his first year in San Francisco. Alou and Cora are the only managers to lead their team to victory in 15 of their first 17 games in their first season with the franchise since at least 1900, according to the Elias Sports Bureau (via ESPN). Alou had previous experience managing the Montreal Expos, making Cora the only rookie manager to do so.