MLB Notebook: Red Sox' Alex Cora’s ‘Nobody Thought’ remarks falls flat, Early eyes October spot, and more around the league

The marathon has come to its sprinting finish. After 162 games spread across spring, summer, and the long grind of September, Major League Baseball arrives at its final day of the regular season — a Sunday where every pitch, every swing, and every out carries the weight of six months of struggle.

For the Red Sox, Sunday afternoon’s game will not be their final one. Boston will play in the postseason for the first time since 2021 and just needs to get through the game healthy before resetting its rotation and figuring out where they will play next week.

The Sox battled all season through ups and downs to get to this point, and Alex Cora told reporters before Saturday’s 2-1 loss to the Tigers that his club has been overlooked since spring training.

“Nobody thought we were gonna make it to October,” Cora said Saturday. “Whoever says that we were a playoff team, that’s (expletive) bull-(expletive), to be honest with you. Nobody thought we were gonna make it to October. It was New York. It was Baltimore. It was Toronto. And we believed we were going to play in October. We set our standards every single day. And we hit our standards.”

Cora going with the underdog mentality for his clubhouse is one thing, but stating people around the league didn’t think the Red Sox would play into October is abundantly false. FanGraphs had the Sox winning the AL East and the AL pennant, ESPN tagged them with 45.6% playoff odds before the season, and MLB.com’s writers chose Boston to win the AL East and AL pennant.

“Up and down, trades, injuries — we kept going," Cora said. “And you have to let them (the players) know because over 162 to do that is not easy. And they accomplished that. So we had to celebrate yesterday. But they did a good job. They turned the page. They’re hungover. Yeah. That’s the reality of it. But we’ll show up today, and we will try to kick their (expletive).”

The first two months of the season were rocky; there was the spring training drama around Rafael Devers and his inability to hit to open the season, the club was inconsistent and unable to put together consecutive wins on a consistent basis, Alex Bregman went on the injured list, Devers was shipped to the Giants, and everything began to shift from that point.

Craig Breslow boldly predicted his team might win more games without Devers than with him. That proved to be accurate over the course of the season. Boston introduced numerous rookies onto its roster, including Roman Anthony, Marcelo Mayer, Payton Tolle, Connelly Early, Kristian Campbell, and Jhostynxon Garcia.

Boston went through numerous challenges over the course of the season, but no more than other teams over the years that grind through a 162-game schedule.

“I think honestly, people thought we had a good team, but in the division, nobody thought we were going to be this good, to be honest with you,” Cora said.

The Sox' skipper has mistaken warranted criticism over his team’s play at times this season as “people” not thinking they could be a legitimate playoff threat this season. Sorry, Alex, people in and out of baseball had high expectations for the Red Sox before and during the season. The nobody-thought-we’d-be-here narrative may boost locker room morale, but the Sox are precisely where fans and analysts anticipated them to be this season. 

DO THE ROOKIES HAVE A PLACE ON THE WILD-CARD ROSTER?

Red Sox rookie Connelly Early made a strong case over the last few weeks to earn a spot on Boston’s wild-card-round roster.

Early started on Saturday afternoon and pitched five innings in a 2-1 loss to the Tigers. The lefty allowed two runs and four hits with one walk while striking out seven batters. The southpaw has allowed just five earned runs in 19 1/3 innings, spanning over four starts.

“He’s a big part of what we’re trying to accomplish,” Cora said about Early. “Let’s see what happens—the (playoff roster) decisions we make—but he’s a part of it.”

Early has been a pleasant surprise for the Red Sox since he was promoted; the 23-year-old owns a 2.33 ERA to begin his big league career. Given the current state of the rotation, it's highly likely that Early will follow Garrett Crochet, Brayan Bello, and Lucas Giolito in the rotation if Boston engages in a seven-game series. At the very least, he could be used as a bulk-innings reliever in the wild-card round.

“I'll be ready to go whenever they call my name,” Early said. “So if AC makes that decision to maybe move me to the ‘pen or something, or whatever that may be, I'm ready to go.”

Payton Tolle is another option for the Red Sox bullpen this postseason. He tossed a solid inning of relief on Saturday, striking out one batter.

After making his first three Major League starts from Aug. 29 to Sept. 10, Tolle has made four straight appearances out of the bullpen. This is the third time he didn’t allow a run in a relief appearance.

“It was off the plate quite a bit, but it kind of came out like, ‘Ohhhhh, that one felt a little bit different.’ It made me look up [at the scoreboard],” Tolle said. “I'm glad that I'm not looking up there and seeing a bad number or anything.”

The rookie is adjusting to life as a reliever and wants to help Boston win any way he can.

“I think that experience is everything, right? Learning, talking to guys, just trying to put myself in situations trying to be ready,” Tolle said. “I’m starting to feel out when I might come in, when situations arise, or something like that. Just continuing to get the experience of it is helping out a lot.”

AROUND THE LEAGUE

- Terry Francona’s Reds (83-28) are tied with the Mets for the final National League wild-card spot but own the head-to-head tiebreaker after taking four of six in their season series. A win in Sunday’s season finale—or a Mets loss—would clinch a postseason berth for Cincinnati.

“It’s exciting. Don’t run from it. I know sleep this time of year is not great anyway. We’ll be ready to go," Francona said.

If the Reds lose, they must hope the Mets also lose vs. the Marlins to get in.

- The Guardians have been on a wild ride the last few weeks, punching their ticket for October play, and are on the verge of clinching the American League Central. Both the Tigers and Guardians enter play on Sunday tied with an 87-74 record, with Cleveland owning the season series over Detroit.

If the Tigers defeat the Red Sox on Sunday and the Guardians lose, they’ll clinch the AL Central. Cleveland found themselves 15 1/2 games back of Detroit on July 8, caught fire, and are in a position to try and win their second straight AL Central title.

- The Blue Jays and Yankees are tied for first place at 93-68, and one of the two teams will celebrate a division title. Toronto owns the tiebreaker over New York, and with a win or a Yankees loss on Sunday, the Blue Jays would win the AL East for the first time since 2015. For the Yankees to win the AL East, they need a win and a Blue Jays loss.

The winner of the American League East will also secure the No. 1 seed in the American League, a first-round bye, and home-field advantage at least through the ALCS.

- The Astros will miss the playoffs for the first time since 2016 after the Guardians eliminated them with a walk-off win.

- The American League MVP race has boiled down to a fascinating contrast, and Sunday’s final day of regular-season games will be the last chance for the two sluggers to make an impression on the baseball writers.

Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees and Cal Raleigh of the Seattle Mariners headline one of the most compelling MVP debates in recent memory.

Judge enters play Sunday with 53 homers and is the third player in baseball history to hit at least 50 homers and win a batting title, joining Jimmie Foxx and Mickey Mantle. The Yankees’ captain has helped guide New York to the postseason and could help them clinch an AL East title, but despite that, Raleigh should be the AL’s MVP.

The Mariners catcher has 60 homers and 125 RBI with a .948 OPS.

Voters will have a tough time deciding on who should win the award, and offensive numbers for both players are excellent. Raleigh has been the most valuable player to his team, and he’s put up record numbers as a catcher. Both players have delivered impactful seasons, and Judge’s WAR of 9.3 vs. Raleigh’s 7.2 might sway votes.

Both players are deserving of the award, but Raleigh has had a season of the ages for the Mariners and deserves to be AL MVP.

- Boston needed a starter for Sunday’s season finale, and the club selected right-handed pitcher José De León. The Sox optioned left-hander Chris Murphy to Triple-A Worcester.

De León, 33, will make his first start in the bigs since 2023, when he was with the Twins. This season, he pitched in 22 games (13 starts) for the WooSox, recording a 6.93 ERA with 89 strikeouts.

Murphy pitched three scoreless innings of relief in the loss to the Tigers on Saturday. Since returning from the injured list, he’s pitched in 23 games, going 3-0 with a 3.12 ERA.

- Despite the Tigers' late-season collapse, they’ll still play in October. Detroit is also planning to give manager A.J. Hinch a contract extension. It’ll be interesting to see if he signs a long-term pact with the Tigers or if the Astros' job becomes open; if Hinch would entertain a reunion?

- Veteran Charlie Morton will start for the Braves on Sunday, the third team he will play for this season. Morton began the season with the Orioles and was traded to the Tigers before the deadline in July. After struggling with Detroit, he was designated for assignment and picked up by Atlanta.

“We were trying to think of the best possible way to make it a special day since we did bring Charlie back, and he’s meant so much to the organization,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said to reporters. “It’s something you can control if he’s an opener, and do a nice thing by honoring him and his career and what he’s meant to, not only us, but to baseball.”

- Cardinals pitcher Sonny Gray and catcher/first baseman Willson Contreras are both open to trades this winter. Nolan Arenado is also open to waiving his no-trade clause. St. Louis is expected to go into a rebuild mode under new front office leader Chaim Bloom.

- The Nationals hired Red Sox assistant general manager Paul Toboni as their new head of baseball operations.

- Bregman will play in the postseason for the 10th straight season. His first time with the Red Sox, after winning two World Series titles in nine years in Houston.

- MLB Pipeline has two catching prospects ranked in the top 30 for the Red Sox. Johanfran Garcia is ranked No. 28, and Jorge Rodriguez is No. 30.

Rodriguez spent this past season in rookie ball and hit .289 with three homers and 17 RBI. “Rodriguez is very agile behind the plate and moves well laterally to block balls in the dirt. He has good receiving skills for a teenager, and some evaluators grade his arm strength as double-plus,” MLB Pipeline wrote about the teenage catcher.

- The Cubs will be without rookie right-hander Cade Horton likely through the NLDS thanks to a right rib fracture. Horton exited his Sept. 23 start with soreness in his side, and manager Craig Counsell stated tests revealed "some areas of concern."

"The honest answer is I don't think we know," president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said Saturday as to when Horton could be back on the mound this season. "He was sick in Cincinnati. With that there was coughing. Whether that did it or not, we don't know. There was no acute event that we know of, just that his ribs were sore."