Detroit — Whenever AJ Hinch moves his pregame press conference ahead of the media’s clubhouse access, it’s a signal that there’s some kind of news afoot.
But, nobody could have predicted this.
Hinch announced Tuesday he and third-base coach Joey Cora had mutually agreed to part ways, effective immediately. Billy Boyer will coach third base the rest of the season.
“I know this is going to be a surprise to a lot of people,” Hinch said. “I love Joey and he loved being a Tiger. He’s been instrumental in his time here, but similar to a family, it doesn’t last forever. We had some philosophical differences and we both agreed it’s probably best for the players and for everybody to separate.”
Cora, who had been with the Tigers since 2024, asked to meet Hinch on the off-day Monday. Hinch pushed it until Tuesday morning. Hinch said there was no blow-up, no argument, just “two baseball guys talking about what was best.”
Hinch adamantly said this was a baseball decision. There were no off-the-field issues.
“It was all baseball,” Hinch said. “Joey has no off-field issues, whatsoever.”
The news was shock to the players, too.
“We had no idea,” third baseman Colt Keith said. “There was no indication, nothing built up to this that I was aware of. We just got the message this morning.”
Keith and all the infielders worked tirelessly with Cora, who had an endless supply of unique drills to present to the players.
“Every day he brought effort and tried to make us better,” Keith said. “Which all of us can appreciate. I wish nothing but the best for him moving forward.”
Hinch declined to go into specifics when asked about the nature of the philosophical differences.
“Details are tough,” he said. “We’ve spent hours upon hours with one another over the course of the last 2½ years. I thanked him profusely. He has really been impactful in changing our aggressiveness, our intensity and our toughness. All of those things are good. Now those come with some risk and some other things.
“No, I don’t want to dive into ton of specifics because I’d have to unravel a lot of different things over the years that I’ve debated left and right with all of our staff.”
Since Cora arrived, the Tigers have become one of the most aggressive baserunning teams in the American League. Their 54% rate of extra bases taken this season is well above the league average (42%).
But, they’ve also had 28 runners thrown out on the bases (not stealing), including four at third base and 10 at home.
“I think he did a really good job of instilling (aggressiveness) in us,” Jake Rogers said. “That’s not a bad thing at all. He was a very aggressive third-base coach and a very aggressive guy in general, and I think he really brought the energy every day and instilled that aggressiveness in each and every one of us.
“I think, genuinely, every single one of us at the end of our careers can go back and be like, ‘I think Joey had a really good impact in our baseball lives.’”
Rogers harkened back to a team meeting in the middle of 2024 when he lit up the players for not being aggressive enough and beseeching them to find that extra gear. The meeting was a catalyst in the teams’ 31-13 finish.
“He was a very vital part a couple years ago when we needed to go on that run,” Rogers said. “It was like, ‘Hey, we’re going to score, and we’re going to run, and we’re going to go first to third, and we’re going to first to home.’
“He was a very vital part of that and a very vital part of us winning in this organization. And at the end of our careers, we’re all going to look back and say Joey definitely had an impact on us, for sure.”
Boyer, who had been the team’s quality coach, has been in the organization every year except one since 2020.
“We’re going to miss Joey’s experience and we’re going to need the learning curve to be fast,” Hinch said. “Billy’s done this before and he’s a meticulous learner. He knows our group and he’s studied this entire time from being kind of a hybrid coach to doing whatever. He’s been a catch-all for this staff all year. He’s very prepared to take over.
“He clearly doesn’t have the experience Joey had. But I have a ton of confidence in him.”
Hinch said he and Cora met early Tuesday morning. They were the only two people in the building.
“We hugged a little, teared up a little,” Hinch said. “I’m better at managing for having worked with him. He’s a tremendous baseball mind and a tremendous baseball person. But sometimes things don’t last forever.”
Chris.McCosky@detroitnews.com
@cmccosky
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Tigers part ways with third-base coach Joey Cora over ‘philosophical differences’
Reporting by Chris McCosky, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Chris McCosky, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
