Detroit Tigers 3B coach Joey Cora is 'good baseball man' who 'will send every runner'
It was a sunny morning in spring training.
Detroit Tigers infield coach Joey Cora tossed a ball in the air and swung his fungo bat.
He treats practices like games and refuses to go through the motions, which means hard-hit ground balls in infield drills. Third baseman Gio Urshela, a newcomer to camp as a late free-agent signee, wasn't ready.
Urshela botched the grounder.
"Welcome to the Tigers," Cora said.
Manager A.J. Hinch hired Cora as one of four newcomers to his coaching staff in the 2024 season. Before joining the Tigers, Cora coached in the major leagues for the Chicago White Sox (2004-11), Miami Marlins (2012), Pittsburgh Pirates (2017-21) and New York Mets (2022-23).
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In Detroit, Cora is the new third base coach.
"He's an incredible coach," Hinch said. "I've been trying to hire him for a long time. He provides energy. He provides content. His competitiveness is off the charts. He's experienced. He's been a winner. He's influential with players. He can make players better by including all of those things in his teaching. He's a huge addition for us."
Hall of Fame shortstop Alan Trammell, who competed against Cora during their playing careers, watched from the middle of the infield in spring training when Urshela, a former Gold Glove finalist, fumbled the ground ball.
Trammell chimed in.
"You see, Joey don't mess around, man," Trammell said.
The other players on the field chuckled, knowing exactly what Trammell meant. But Cora didn't waste time joking around. He got everyone focused again with another hard-hit grounder to third base.
This time, Urshela fielded the ball cleanly.
Cora hits ground balls harder than any other coach.
"It's the hardest fungo I've ever seen," infielder Ryan Kreidler said.
'A good baseball man'
His younger brother, Alex Cora, isn't surprised to hear that.
"He's a tough son of a (expletive)," said Alex, who manages the Boston Red Sox. "I learned that when I was a little kid, and the guys throughout the years have learned that. He will push you to the limit. He's going to make you a better player."
Alex is 10½ years younger than Joey. He has spent his life looking up to his brother and following in his footsteps. The dynamic of the relationship changed from older brother to father figure when their father, José Manuel Cora, died from cancer in October 1989, when Joey was 24 and Alex was 13.
They grew up in Caguas, Puerto Rico.
Joey, now 58, and Alex, now 48, both ended up having successful playing and coaching careers in the big leagues, with Joey leading the way.
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Joey attended Vanderbilt University — recently inducted into the Vanderbilt Athletics Hall of Fame — before the San Diego Padres selected him with the No. 23 overall pick in the 1985 draft. He had an 11-year MLB career as a second baseman, making the All-Star Game in 1997, and has been a coach for more than 20 years.
"He's a good baseball man," Alex said. "He's a good coach."
He's also a great big brother.
Alex attended the University of Miami and wanted to return home to Puerto Rico because he felt homesick, but Joey forced him to stay in school. The Los Angeles Dodgers selected Alex with the No. 88 overall pick in the 1996 draft. He had a 14-year MLB career, winning the World Series in 2007, and has been a coach for nearly a decade. He won the World Series twice as a coach, in 2017 as the bench coach of the Houston Astros and in 2018 as the manager of the Red Sox.
"I hate to say it, but I know a lot of people think that he's there because of Javy (Báez), and that's not the case," Alex said of Joey's new job with the Tigers. "He's there because he's a good coach, and he can help that infield to be better. Obviously, Javy is very important for the organization."
'Get your hamstrings ready'
Hinch has been trying to hire Joey Cora for many years, long before Javier Báez.
It all began when Joey visited Alex during the 2017 World Series, in which the Astros beat the Dodgers in seven games.
Hinch was the manager; Alex was the bench coach.
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Hinch wanted to hire Alex's older brother to his coaching staff with the Astros, but Joey had just finished his first of five seasons as the third base coach of the Pirates and wanted to stay in Pittsburgh. Hinch tried to hire Joey to his coaching staff again, this time with the Tigers, but Joey wanted to be the third base coach of the Mets, working with Puerto Rican shortstop Francisco Lindor.
"He cares a lot," said Lindor, who grew up in Joey's hometown in Puerto Rico. "When I was struggling, he was one of the first ones to come and talk to me. He grabbed me and told me what I was doing."
Lindor raves about Cora's genius.
He blends an old-school teachings with new-school ideas. His method for instructing infield defense focuses on creativity to make sure drills are both challenging and simulate real-game scenarios.
"He thinks outside of the box in whatever drills he's doing," Lindor said, "whether it's fielding with your opposite hand or facing the outfield and then turning around when he hits the ground ball. He thinks outside of the box. It's stuff that takes you out of what you normally do."
What sets Cora apart from other third base coaches is his aggressiveness. It's something the Tigers — desperate to score more runs this season — have already experienced several times, all by design.
He has been criticized by Pirates fans, Mets fans and now, Tigers fans.
Being too aggressive burned Cora twice in the first four games this season, getting Mark Canha and Carson Kelly thrown out at home plate in back-to-back games, but Hinch supported Cora's decision in those situations, both with two outs. Hinch doesn't want Cora to shy away from taking the risk to get the reward.
"We've got to separate ourselves away from safe or out being right or wrong," Hinch said. "Joey did the right thing."
The Tigers believe in the process of creating pressure on the bases and forcing the defense to make plays.
Cora's tendency to push the envelope, sending runners home in situations where other coaches would hesitate, puts him in the mix as the most daring third base coach in baseball.
"He's someone that will send every runner," Lindor said. "Get your hamstrings ready. He's going to be on the players, whether you're young or old, it doesn't matter, but get your hamstrings ready, otherwise it's going to be a tough year."
'He wants the Tigers to win'
Cora helped Lindor as a shortstop.
Lindor, a four-time All-Star and 2016 Platinum Glove winner, credited Cora for helping him overcome challenges related to a bone spur in his right elbow last season. He quietly played the entire season with an elbow injury before offseason surgery. Cora taught Lindor how his legs impact his arm on defense.
"He helped my arm," Lindor said. "He helped me to be more in my legs. Last year, I couldn't really throw, and my errors weren't even throwing. He helped me relearn how to use my legs. He helped me anticipate a little bit better in certain times. He definitely helped."
Cora supported Lindor in other ways, too.
"It's just not defense," Lindor said. "He helped me as a person. He gave me advice that made me grow in the times I was struggling, and he told me to come down in times when I was playing too well. Things like that make a coach really good."
Now, Cora is trying to help another Puerto Rican shortstop.
It's Báez.
"Joey has a lot of energy," said Báez, a two-time All-Star and 2020 Gold Glove winner with four years, $98 million remaining on his contract. "He's been getting the best out of us, and we need it."
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The Tigers need Báez, a .230 hitter with declining power in the last two seasons, to be an elite defender at shortstop into the future. To get there, he needs to clean up the accuracy of his throws. Báez makes the unbelievable plays, but making the routine throws by focusing on his footwork is what Cora is trying to unlock.
"He's gotten into a really good prep routine with Joey," Hinch said. "The movement that he's doing is an object in motion always stays in motion. That's a good statement for him. When he gets caught flat-footed is when he has to make up for it with his arm. He's been very diligent about his work."
Báez played 99 innings at shortstop in spring training.
The Tigers were impressed by his clean defense.
"I feel good about my throwing," Báez said.
Action and intellect seem to be at the core of Cora's coaching style, but understanding Cora is difficult because — since joining the Tigers — he isn't allowed to talk to reporters, not about his sends at third base, the way he teaches infield defense or his life as a baseball man.
It's a rule Hinch has for his entire coaching staff.
But Alex Cora, speaking on behalf of his older bother, has a message about what to expect from Joey Cora.
"He's a very intense guy who cares about winning," Alex said. "He has a passion for the game. He's going to give you his best all the time. He's going to bring energy. He's going to bring structure. He wants the Tigers to win, but he also wants the Red Sox to win a lot of games this year."
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers 3B coach Joey Cora brings new competitiveness to team
