Alex Cora Pushes Red Sox To Improve In These ‘Two Pillars’

The Boston Red Sox fell short of the postseason in 2024 for the third consecutive season.

Alex Cora believes pitching and defense made the difference in collective stretches of struggles throughout the season. Boston's manager ultimately believe those two facets of the sport separated the ballclub from the rest of the postseason field in 2024.

"I honestly think that the two pillars that winning teams have is pitching and defense," Cora told NESN's Tom Caron on Friday. "They don't slump throughout the season when you're winning 95 games, even 88."

Cora cited the Detroit Tigers as a team that excelled in pitching and defense throughout the second half that now has them on the doorstep of a postseason berth for the first time in 10 years. The Red Sox manager knows that consistency must return to Boston for 2025.

"They play good defense, pitching and obviously timely hitting," Cora added. "You gotta be consistent in those two departments. This year, for X or Y reason, we weren't consistent at all."

Boston had baseball's best team ERA for most of April and now sits at 16th in the sport with a 4.05 ERA. Additionally, the Red Sox once again led the American League with 115 errors in 2024.

The Red Sox seek a clean weekend in those areas as they round out the regular season against the Tampa Bay Rays to close out the 2024 season at Fenway Park.