Tigers manager A.J. Hinch today informed reporters, including Jason Beck of MLB.com, that the team is parting ways with third base coach Joey Cora. Hinch framed the decision as mutual and purely based on baseball, not related to any off-field issues. “We had some philosophical differences,” Hinch said, “and we both just agreed it’s probably best for the players and everybody to separate.” Billy Boyer will take over Cora’s job.

Cora, 61, played in the big leagues from 1987 until 1998. He and his younger brother Alex went into coaching after their playing days were done. Joey spent time on the staffs of the White Sox, Marlins, Padres and Mets before joining the Tigers for the 2024 season.

When a third base coach gets in trouble, it’s often related to sending runners home. Very early in his tenure with the Tigers, in May of 2024, Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic profiled the Tigers and their aggressive baserunning style led by Cora. That’s an approach that can have benefits but also drawbacks. A few weeks back, Cora got some flack for a poor send. As seen in this clip from Baseball Savant, he waved Riley Greene around third even though Yankees outfielder Cody Bellinger had the ball in shallow left well before Greene rounded the bag.

Whether any of this is related to Cora’s dismissal is completely speculative. For what it’s worth, FanGraphs ranked the Tigers ninth in the baserunning metric BsR in 2024, then 10th last year and 17th here in 2026.

The move marks another data point in a rough year for the Cora family and a tough year-plus for third base coaches. Alex started the year as manager of the Red Sox but was fired a month into the season after that club got out to a poor start. Boston also fired third base coach Kyle Hudson and several other members of the staff. The Giants also made a swap at third last month. Last year, Arizona and Atlanta made midseason swaps as well.

Boyer was already on the staff, promoted in November to the title of major league quality coach. He had previously worked in the organization as infield coordinator in 2022. He took a job with the University of Washington in 2023 before returning to the Tigers’ system in 2024. He has some very brief third base coaching experience, as he covered for Cora on May 9th while Cora was attending a graduation ceremony for someone in his family.

Photo courtesy of Bob DeChiara, Imagn Images