There was a different feeling in the air during Alex Cora's June 3 postgame presser. His team just dropped a series to the Los Angeles Angels, and his frustration stung the ears of reporters in the room and listeners on NESN's airwaves.
“We keep making the same mistakes,” the usually levelheaded Cora said. “We’re not getting better. At one point, it has to be on me, I guess. I’m the manager. I’ve got to keep pushing them to be better. They’re not getting better. They’re not. We keep making the same mistakes, same mistakes. I’ll be very honest about it and very open about it.
"Is it effort? Preparation? Attention to detail? I have no idea."
Cora finally said what Boston Red Sox fans have been thinking for weeks. Boston succumbed to its 17th one-run loss of the season against the Angels on June 3 — it only lost 13 games by one run last year. The Red Sox went 1-for-13 with runners in scoring position and stranded 11 men on the bases.
Alex Cora finally said what Red Sox fans have been thinking all season
"We keep making the same mistakes. We're not getting better. At one point, it has to be on me, I guess — right? I'm the manager, so, you know, I gotta keep pushing them to be better. They're not getting better."
— NESN (@NESN) June 4, 2025
Alex Cora voiced his frustration following tonight's loss. pic.twitter.com/Vv0rs1ssSy
All season long, the Red Sox have struggled to put a complete game together. When the pitchers perform, the bats don't support them. When a struggling hitter heats up, others trend the opposite way, canceling out any progress. Brayan Bello finally pitched six innings on June 3, the first time this season he's completed at least five frames, but the defense made three errors behind him. The Red Sox now lead the league again with 53 errors, one more than the 10-win Rockies, who are on pace to become the worst MLB team of all time.
Injuries have changed things for Boston, but it continues using the same lineup, day in and day out, without changing anything to improve. Trevor Story has been one of the worst hitters in MLB for over a month, and his defense has regressed enough that it doesn't make up for his low plate production. Connor Wong doesn't have an extra-base hit or an RBI this season. Roman Anthony is wasting his time in Triple-A with nothing left to prove because the Red Sox organization doesn't want to put pressure on him to save the team, when they should add some pressure on their existing big leaguers. The front office bought into winning this year after signing Alex Bregman and trading for Garrett Crochet, but somehow, the Red Sox are worse than their three previous teams.
Boston has a lot of issues to fix before it can commit to buying at the trade deadline and continuing its playoff push. If the Red Sox can't kick their bad habits — sloppy defense, strikeouts, bad baserunning, poor performances from starting pitchers, etc. — by the end of June, they risk missing the playoffs for four straight seasons for the first time since before the Wild Card game was introduced in 1995.