DETROIT -- Joey Cora, whose aggressiveness as the Tigers’ third-base coach helped speed Detroit into its 2024 and 2025 playoff runs, is out. The Tigers and the veteran infielder-turned-coach agreed to part ways effective immediately, manager A.J. Hinch announced on Tuesday.
Billy Boyer, in his first season on staff as a quality control coach, will take over as third-base coach for the rest of the season.
It was a stunning midseason move given how much Cora’s philosophy on running bases hard has become part of the Tigers’ identity.
“I know that news is going to be surprising to a lot of people,” Hinch said. “I love Joey. Joey loved being a Tiger. He’s been instrumental in his time here. But similar to a family, sometimes it doesn’t last forever. We had some philosophical differences, and we both just agreed it’s probably best for the players and everybody to separate.”
Cora was in his third season with the Tigers, following two seasons in the same role with the Mets and five with the Pirates. Detroit shared the American League lead in Run Value on extra bases taken and in percentage of advance attempts during his tenure, according to Statcast. His willingness to send baserunners home and test outfield arms had become a running theme, so to speak, for Detroit’s offense and a regular sight in games, but in challenging defenses, he also challenged his baserunners.
Cora instilled a mindset in the team to consistently run bases hard and create chances for extra runs. An August 2024 meeting with players imploring them to run harder and create more offense was seen by several players as a spark for the late-season surge that earned them a Wild Card spot and a postseason run.
“We know what comes with Joey, and it works, and we’re going to do it,” Riley Greene said last year. “We know that he’s going to send us, so we’re going to go.”
The Tigers became a more aggressive baserunning team than their speed would suggest, more so in advancing extra bases on hits and fly balls than in basestealing. They also ran into their share of outs, some not particularly close at the plate, but it was seen as part of the equation.
“Every day, he brought effort and tried to make us better, which all us players can appreciate,” third baseman Colt Keith said.
Said catcher Jake Rogers: “He wants to win, and he brings that aggressiveness every day. I can’t speak for the other guys, but it hit me kind of hard. He’s part of the fam.”
Rogers said he found out about the change via text message Monday night. Hinch said Cora requested a meeting Monday before Hinch pushed it to Tuesday morning. The decision was entirely baseball-related, Hinch said, adding there were no off-field issues.
“I thanked him profusely for [what he did over] the last 2 1/2 years,” Hinch said, “because I think he has really been impactful at changing our aggressiveness, our intensity, our toughness. Now, those come with some risk and some other things.
“I don’t want to dive into specifics, because I’d have to unravel a lot of different things over the years that I debate left and right with all of our staff. We met this morning, and the meeting was not what it seems in terms of a blow-up for an argument between the two of us. It’s just two baseball guys talking about what was best, and obviously as a manager, I own it.”
The 42-year-old Boyer was an infield and baserunning coordinator in the Twins' system from 2019-21, then spent the '22 and '25 seasons as Detroit's infield coordinator and field coordinator, respectively. This season is his first on a Major League staff. He filled in as third-base coach in Spring Training while Cora was on the Puerto Rico coaching staff for the World Baseball Classic, but this is Boyer's first full-time assignment in the role.
“He’s done it before, and he’s a meticulous learner, and he knows our group,” Hinch said. “Billy’s been a catch-all on the coaching staff the entire season, and he’s very prepared to take over, but clearly doesn’t have the experience that Joey had. But I have a ton of confidence in him and his decision-making and his preparation to be good at it.”
Hinch does not expect the aggressiveness to change.
“I think the style of play is ingrained in what we do. It’s part of our DNA in this ballpark,” Hinch said. “It’s a huge competitive advantage to maintain that aggressiveness and that willingness to be barely safe or barely out. I know sometimes that aggressiveness can exceed comfort level and you can run into some outs, and you can make some more outs on the bases, but good teams make outs on the bases because they push the stress on the other side. Our style of play is not going to change, and our mindset is not going to change.”