DETROIT (AP) — Detroit Tigers third base coach Joey Cora has left the club in the middle of his third season on the job because of what manager A.J. Hinch described on Tuesday as “philosophical differences.”
“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 both just agreed it’s probably best for the players and everybody to separate,” Hinch added.
Cora, a native of Puerto Rico, is the older brother of former Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora, who was Both played in the major leagues for more than a decade as middle infielders.
Billy Boyer, a first-year member of Hinch’s staff, will move from his position handling “quality control” to third base coach for the remainder of this season, the club said before Tuesday night’s game against the Athletics.
Cora has been a base coach for most of the past decade, spending five seasons with Pittsburgh and two with the New York Mets. During that time he’s developed a reputation for challenging opposing fielders by aggressively signaling for runners to take third or try to score on balls in play.
Tigers catcher Jake Rogers told mlb.com he learned of the move in a text on Monday night, when the Tigers were idle.
“I can’t speak for the other guys, but it hit me kind of hard,” Rogers said.
Hinch said the decision stemmed only from baseball matters, not anything personal or an issue off the field.
“I thanked him profusely,” Hinch said. “He has really been impactful at changing our aggressiveness, our intensity, our toughness. Now, those come with some risk.
“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,” Hinch said. “It’s just two baseball guys talking about what was best, and obviously as a manager, I own it.”
Boyer, 42, is in his first season on a major league staff after beginning his coaching career developing minor leaguers for the Minnesota Twins and Tigers.
Boyer “clearly doesn’t have the experience that Joey had. But I have a ton of confidence in him,” Hinch said, adding that he does not expect the Tigers to become more conservative on the base paths.
“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. … Our style of play is not going to change, and our mindset is not going to change.”
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