Key Tigers coach surprisingly succumbs to recent rash of mistakes in AJ Hinch's latest firing

Tigers third base coach Joey Cora has come under fire more this season than any before, after a series of misinformed sends in close games.

On June 23 against the Yankees, he sent Riley Greene home from second on a shallow outfield hit, despite the fact that the ball was already in Cody Bellinger's glove in left before Greene had even gotten to third. Unsurprisingly, he was gunned down to end the inning. The Tigers held a slim 2-1 lead at that point, but ended up losing 4-3.

With that out, Detroit had six runners from second thrown out at home on the season, leading MLB.

Cora's been mostly behaved since then, and the Tigers have been winning. But it clearly wasn't enough for AJ Hinch, who told reporters Tuesday that he and Cora "agreed to mutually part ways" and chalked it up to a "baseball decision."

Billy Boyer, longtime Tigers minor league coordinator who was promoted to major league quality control coach at the beginning of the season, will take over at third base in the meantime.

It's a surprising move for the Tigers and Cora, a key driver in the formation of the Gritty Tigs identity.

Tigers, Joey Cora "mutually part ways" after a series of bad baserunning decisions

Greene himself credited Cora with the daring baserunning the Tigers leaned into fully in the last few months of the 2024 season. This is what the Tigers do: they take their extra bases at every opportunity. They almost always go first to third when they can and, with Cora's instruction, will sometimes dare to go all the way home.

But we've seen a dramatic turn in their baserunning fortunes this season, a lot of which has to do with Cora. Maybe he was getting a little too desperate to actually see the team score runs — which we can empathize with, surely — but it ultimately put the Tigers in a worse spot.

No doubt the team will continue using Cora's philosophy to a certain extent. Even if it hasn't been working out for them in the same way this season, it's still a core part of their identity. The Tigers always take their extra bases.

...But maybe they'll do it a little less under Boyer, and that might be for the best. The Tigers are still skating on some very, very thin ice, and they need to capitalize on every single opportunity. Despite years of good work for Detroit, Cora just wasn't doing that anymore.

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