How Red Sox's Firing of Alex Cora Has Impacted Masataka Yoshida

Since interim manager Chad Tracy took over after the Boston Red Sox fired manager Alex Cora, but of the club has remained the same.

That shouldn't shock too many people. Cora had a tough job and was given a roster with multiple surpluses throughout and had to try to work through it. Outside of Jake Bennett making his big league debut with Garrett Crochet on the Injured List, there haven't been a ton of personnel changes on the roster.

There are a few things, though. First and foremost, Tracy has made it clear that he wants to see Marcelo Mayer facing more lefties, which is different than what the Red Sox were doing under Cora. Boston really prioritized matchups based on righties and lefties, rather than necessarily the players themselves.

Also, we've seen less of Masataka Yoshida in the Red Sox's outfield logjam. It's known that Boston has five talented outfielders in Yoshida, Roman Anthony, Jarren Duran, Ceddanne Rafaela, and Wilyer Abreu. Boston fired Cora on April 25 and Yoshida has played in one game since.

Masataka Yoshida's Role Certainly Looks Different

Apr 17, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Red Sox pinch hitter Masataka Yoshida (7) celebrates after hitting an RBI during the tenth inning against the Detroit Tigers at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Paul Rutherford-Imagn Images | Paul Rutherford-Imagn Images

On Saturday, Tracy opened up about Yoshida's role and said that it's not changing much, but that isn't necessarily the case, as transcribed by MassLive.com's Chris Cotillo.

"It’s not a whole lot different, the role,” Tracy said. “If I was going to use somebody drastically differently than how they were being used before I got here, I’d probably have that [conversation]. It’s similar to how it was. It’s not an easy situation. He’s a good hitter, but we’re in the same spot we were. He can hit, but then you look at the other four guys, too, with the speed and versatility and what they bring to the table. They’ve got to play, so it’s not an easy situation. ...

"I do think one thing is clear: You’re not always gonna use him, but when Masa’s sitting there on the bench and available, if there’s a lane with a righty where they can’t make a move, that’s a good thing for us. Not ideal, but we’ve just got to manage what we have."

At the end of the day, even if Tracy says that his role isn't "drastically" different, he has played in just one game since the interim manager took over. That is different than what Boston was doing with him before.

Yoshida was one of the Red Sox's hottest hitters out of the gate and so the club rode the hot hand, which put Duran on the bench more than you'd typically expect. Since Tracy took over, Duran has been getting more consistent opportunities and has unsurprisingly looked better in the process. Clearly, it seems like the Red Sox are betting on Duran's upside, rather than the idea of riding a hot hand. It's not the wrong idea to roll with Duran more than Yoshida. But it is a quirk of an oddly designed rister.

Add us as a preferred source on Google