'Did that really happen?' How the Red Sox went from 10-17 to the postseason — SkimNews
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- The Red Sox fired manager Alex Cora and five other coaches on April 26 with the team at 10-17, promoting Triple-A Worcester manager Chad Tracy to lead the big-league club the next day in Baltimore.
- Tracy, 40, addressed the frustrated clubhouse without discussing baseball, telling 26 players: "I'm not here to kick the door down. I'm here to help" — later noting his goal was to leave the room with everyone breathing a sigh of relief.
- The turnaround began in late June after the team was stranded for hours on a tarmac in Denver, an experience Tracy credits with unifying the clubhouse and launching a 32-5 stretch that included a 15-game winning streak.
- Rookie Payton Tolle, a 23-year-old left-hander whose "GOT JOY" sneakers honor his late mother Jina, became the best rookie pitcher in the American League and threw an immaculate inning — three strikeouts on nine pitches, all 96-98 mph fastballs — against the Royals on Sept. 13.
- The Denver delay capped with the Red Sox sweeping a four-game series against the Yankees immediately after landing, and over roughly 50 days they vaulted from the AL's worst record to a wild-card clinch on Sunday.
- Caleb Durbin went from "one of the worst players in the league" to posting a WAR above 4, while 38-year-old Aroldis Chapman continued baffling hitters in his 17th season, and catcher Mickey Gasper turned into a "budding Boston folk hero."
Why it matters: For chief baseball officer Craig Breslow — who made the call to fire Cora eight games into his tenure — the postseason clinch validates the most aggressive decision of his first year on the job and buys him credibility heading into the winter. Cora's dismissal was the headline; Tracy's promotion and the tarmac-born 32-5 run are now the actual story, shifting the franchise's narrative from reset to results.
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