For the Boston Red Sox to reverse their atrocious start to 2026 and start stacking wins, they'll need to embrace the spirit of accountability from top to bottom. This starts with manager Alex Cora, whose appearance on WEEI on Tuesday revealed that he's not hiding from criticism, nor is he interested sugarcoating Boston's underperformance thus far.
Responding to a question about "Sell the team" chants filling Fenway Park, Cora didn't duck the smoke. Instead, he skillfully crafted an answer that complimented Red Sox fans for their commitment to winning at the highest level, noting the "beauty" of this mindset.
"Right now, we're not playing good baseball," Cora added. "And (the fans) are letting us know."
Hours following Cora's radio appearance, his Red Sox gutted out a tough win at Fenway over flamethrower Jacob Misiorowski and the Milwaukee Brewers. Boston's ace Garrett Crochet played a prominent role in the victory, contributing another quality start of 6 1/3 innings with two earned runs and seven strikeouts.
Red Sox fans had to appreciate Alex Cora's WEEI appearance, but what they really want are wins
"The beauty of Boston is, like, their expectations are same as mine, it's to win a World Series and they're dissapointed"
— WEEI Afternoons (@WEEIAfternoons) April 7, 2026
Alex Cora Responds After Red Sox Fans Chant “Sell the Team” During Loss pic.twitter.com/d9CfGzWqyc
For Cora and the Red Sox, it had to feel good to get into the win column amid all of the panicking fans and outside noise piling up so early in the season. It's tough to play free and fun baseball when you're surrounded by negative pressure, even if Cora has been wise to brand that pressure as a positive one.
Now 4-8 on the season, the Red Sox still have an uphill battle to climb to get back on track towards a successful season. It doesn't help that their rival New York Yankees have gotten off to an 8-4 start.
Alex Cora will be under a microscope as long as the Red Sox underperform
Cora and his decision-making will be at the center of what will hopefully be a surge in April for Boston. The skipper's decision to move Trevor Story back in the batting order has begun to pay dividends, though pessimistic fans will point out that it was Cora who had Story misplaced in the order, to begin with. Those same fans will also probably tell you that Cora should have already moved Story to second base.
The criticism aimed at Cora doesn't end with his handling of Story. His deployment of Marcelo Mayer has been called into question, and many fans didn't get why Cora had to throw Roman Anthony under the bus recently.
In the end, winning cures most things. Most of the above criticisms wouldn't have any oxygen if the Red Sox were 8-4 right now instead of 4-8. Following the Brewers series, the Red Sox will hit the road for two series against clubs they are better than on paper: the St. Louis Cardinals and Minnesota Twins. Taking care of business by winning both series feels like a necessity for a manager and team that has already dug into itself a small, but not insignificant hole.