When the ship starts sinking, someone’s bound to grab a bucket—or point fingers. In the Boston Red Sox clubhouse, the reasoning game found a familiar face in the dugout: Alex Cora, ever the captain, took the fall for yet another dismal outing. But not everyone’s buying what he’s selling. One of Boston’s highest-paid stars just pumped the brakes on the sympathy train—and reminded everyone where the real accountability should land.

The Red Sox got rag-dolled when they went up against the Toronto Blue Jays in their recent outing. After the outing, the Red Sox manager went off on the players. He said that the defense and offense have been bad, and the pitching has been very inconsistent till now. He also said that he takes full responsibility for that and no players should be blamed. But according to Trevor Story, it has to be the other way around.

In a recent interview, Story said, “No, I mean, we’re the ones out there playing the game. There’s a certain pride when you wear this jersey. You’ve got to put it up. And we haven’t been doing that.” Both sides have their story, and both seem to be right, but it is the players who are on the field playing.

says the team needs to take a hard look at themselves before the next game and focus on winning rather than just playing. Because till now, all the Red Sox have been doing is playing, but have shown no interest in winning.

In the 18 games the Red Sox have played, they have lost 10 games, and some of them have been huge losses. They have scored a total of 83 only which is ranked 12th in the league. But they haven’t given up yet. As the $140 million slugger also said that there are still a lot of games to be played, and he believes that the boys can turn it around.

The Red Sox are teetering on the edge of disaster, with an 8-10 record and a string of embarrassing losses to show for it. While Cora takes the fall, Story’s words hit harder: it’s on the players to step up and deliver. The question now is, will they just play, or will they actually win? With plenty of games left, the Red Sox have a choice—either turn it around or continue sinking while the rest of the league sails past them. Time to put up or shut up.

Red Sox and Alex Cora seek answers as pitching staff faces early-season crisis

The Red Sox are off to a rough start, and it’s not the weather that’s making things cold. As the pitching staff continues to implode, Cora faces a daunting reality: tough choices, some uncomfortable optics, and a looming crisis that could define the season. With a struggling rotation and injuries threatening to compound the problem, Cora’s patience might just be his team’s most valuable asset right now.

After a disastrous start to the season, Cora aims to get back on track with a win against the Blue Jays on Tuesday. He said, “Show up [Tuesday] and prepare them. Obviously, that wasn’t a fun night from the get-go. From pitch one, it wasn’t fun. Just got to regroup, come here tomorrow and have a clean game. It would be good to have a clean game.”

The first thing Cora will have to solve is the Pitching rotation. While Garrett Crochet has been throwing missiles, others have not been doing much. Richard Fitts, Walker Buehler, and Sean Newcomb have earned a total of 41 runs in the 47 innings they have pitched.

Other reinforcements like Brayan Bello and Lucas Giolito are still working themselves to get back from injuries. Their arrival could rejuvenate the rotation and get the Red Sox back in the game. But with their arrival, Cora will have to make a tough decision on Tanner Houck. He has given up a total of 19 runs in his four starts, and the team might demote him to the minors when replacements arrive.

Tough calls are on the horizon, and Cora’s whiteboard is running out of room for question marks. As reinforcements inch closer, the margin for error is shrinking faster than Houck’s ERA is climbing. If the Red Sox want to salvage their season, they’ll need more than just healthy arms—they’ll need accountability, consistency, and maybe a little divine intervention. Because at this rate, Fenway’s bullpen phone might need its own rehab assignment.