Boston — Once again, the Red Sox have looked to a former member of the team to fill a critical position.
Andrew Bailey, a pitcher for the Red Sox from 2012 to 2013, was named the team’s new pitching coach on Tuesday.
Other important members of the team’s brain trust with experience playing for the Red Sox include manager Alex Cora, chief baseball officer Craig Breslow, game planning coordinator Jason Varitek, and bench coach Ramón Vázquez.
“I believe it’s just a tool to kind of rely on in our tool belt of experiences,” Bailey remarked. “I have experienced blowing a save in Boston.
I have experienced what it’s like to be a player who, for brief intervals, enjoys success. We finished last [in Boston], but we won the World Series. I have gone through both of those.
“I think it’s an amazing market, but I’ve kind of run the gamut in Boston as well in a really short period of time.” Its fan base is incredible. I adore the vibe and energy that surround Fenway Park and the fans. And I can’t wait to get back to work. However, I do believe that we can learn from those experiences.
“I believe that while we were teammates in the bullpen for a portion of five seasons, I told Craig that I would be happy to be a manager, pitching coach, bullpen coach, or anything else you wanted me to do when he announced that he was going to become general manager. It’s a pretty special relationship, in my opinion.
Actually, Bailey has been the director of development for the Strike 3 Foundation for a considerable amount of time. Breslow founded the foundation in 2008 with the goal of raising money, awareness, and support for research on childhood cancer.
The Red Sox acquire one of the top pitching coaches in the league in Bailey. For the previous four seasons, the 39-year-old played that position for the Giants.
In those four years, San Francisco allowed the fewest home runs (525), had the third-highest strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.16), and finished sixth in the Majors with a 3.80 ERA.
Throughout the previous two seasons, Cora has emphasized the importance of throwing more strikes. The Giants were the only team to have as many as four complete games in 2023 and had the fewest walks in the Majors during Bailey’s tenure.
Bailey remarked, “Look, strikes are everything.” “Zone-specific content plays. restricting strolls, acting combative, and leading in counts.
Under Bailey’s guidance, starting pitchers have a way of elevating their careers.
After leading the National League in Cy Young Award voting in 2021 with a career-best 2.81 ERA and placing sixth, veteran righty Kevin Gausman followed that success to the Blue Jays for the next two seasons.
Left-handed In 2022, Carlos Rodón collaborated with Bailey and also placed sixth in the NL Cy Young Award voting.
The most recent was the rise of right-hander Logan Webb of the Giants, who led the Majors in innings pitched with 216 in 2023 and finished second in the race for NL Cy Young.
When it came to adapting later in their careers, Bailey said, “I think if you take a look at, you know, some of the pitchers that I was fortunate enough to work with in San Francisco, they were totally open minded and some of them did it on their own.”
We had a great group of people. I would tell you right now that I am not the world’s greatest pitching coach. I believe it’s the result of many intelligent people in our vicinity collaborating across departments, including strength and conditioning, medicine, pitching assistants, throwing trainers, and everyone else.
There is an endless list of individuals who influence players; the most important thing is to figure out how to best utilize each person’s strengths and extract the greatest performance possible from them.
Under Breslow, the Red Sox’s primary goal in the upcoming years will be to upgrade their pitching staff and facilities. Breslow has someone in Bailey who ought to be very helpful in that endeavor.
Over the course of eight Major League seasons, Bailey pitched in 265 games, 49 of which were with the Red Sox. Despite suffering an injury during Boston’s historic 2013 World Series run, Bailey is still a member of that team and has a ring.
The Red Sox will attempt to return to the race for their first World Series championship since 2018 with Bailey leading the pitching staff.
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