The Red Sox have made contact with former Reds manager Bryan Price about their vacant pitching coach position, according to Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports.
With Dana LeVangie transitioning to a role in the Boston scouting department, the next pitching coach will mark the fourth person to hold the post in the last six seasons. Certainly, the organization would like some stability in the position; we’ll see if Price is the man to do just that.
While Price’s track record as a manager is not especially inspiring, he’s generally well-regarded as a pitching coach. Prior to being hired by the Reds, he served as the pitching coach for the Mariners and Diamondbacks. All told, he has 13 years of experience as a pitching coach, so he seems to fit the qualifications for the Red Sox job. He was rumored to have attracted interest last offseason, but if hired, it would be his first MLB coaching job since the Reds fired him in April 2018.
Interestingly, the Red Sox are proceeding with the search for their next pitching coach while the organization’s general manager chair remains unfilled after the deposition of Dave Dombrowski. However, recent news from Boston indicates that the team may be leaning towards an internal candidate to succeed Dombrowski, so the front office may be in sync despite the lack a nominal GM.
Whoever the new pitching coach is, he will certainly have a number of intriguing weapons at his disposal. He’ll be tasked with getting Chris Sale, David Price, and Nathan Eovaldi back on track; all three have demonstrated their sky-high potential but stumbled through 2019, failing to live up to the hefty price tags to which they are attached. Of course, those costly starters aren’t going anywhere, and they’re undeniably instrumental to Boston’s future success, so Price’s approach to solving their issues will likely be a topic of discussion during the interview process.
Beyond that trio, Eduardo Rodriguez was perhaps the most dependable starter in the Red Sox 2019 rotation; at just 26, E-Rod may yet have his best years ahead of him. Much has been made of the barren bullpen mix, and it’s true that there’s considerable ground to be made up in that department; still, relief aces Matt Barnes and Brandon Workman comprise a fine pair of foundational relievers.
RIP Eric Cooper
So sad. 52. Makes some of the posting nonsense. RIP.
What?
think the point is that people constantly post comments that are trivial in the grand scheme of things (i.e. life)
He’s hired. Now lets find a competent GM. I still want Tim Naering who is ex-Red Sox player who spent the last few years as Assistant GM with Yankees
Price should get a medal for managing with what he had to work with during his tenure in Cincinnati. I hope he lands a desirable gig as pitching coach somewhere if Boston doesn’t pan out.
I will take Bryan Price right now
Boston could do a ton worse. The ONLY reason the Reds put him in as manager after they let Dusty go was because Price had interviewed with the Rays to be their manager…the reds (Jocketty\Castellini) felt pressured to promote him out of fear another team would look smarter than them by giving him the reigns.
Price is a FANTASTIC\Yoda pitching coach with a great sense of how to maximize pitchers but no clue how to manage a game.
I wish him much success and yes, the “talent” he was given to work with my Jocket\Mr C was laughable.
Can you really call Barnes and Workman relief aces? Barnes has never had better than a 3.65 ERA while Workman only bettered a 3.18 once… Heavy strikeout totals sure but look at the walks.
Are You just disregarding workman’s 1.88 last year with 104 K’s?
One season and he’s never been able to put a full strong season together due to injuries.
It would be the same injury really. That TJ and ultra slow full comeback.
He was coming to ST, even 2-3y after the surgery with nowhere near his previous top velocity of 94-95mph, but in the upper 80’s. Even with his always great curve, it wasn’t going to work.
Last cpl of years some of the velocity would return later in the summer and he’d get a callup, then in 2019 he decided to use his cutter more as well is what though saw from him. Having 93-4mph, that filthy curve, which he can usually get for strikes and nice cutter made him pretty much unhittable as 29h over 71ip showed.
The league will be doing homework over the offseason on him to try and catch up.
One year does not make an Ace. Do it again
6 blown saves in half a season as closer and 45 walks in 71 ip. That sparkly era is pretty but he made me nervous all the time.
Maybe Workman, but Barnes has never had even one super dominant year. At least Workman has.
I was actually thinking to myself that Price would offer a veteran presence ! He understands how analytics is becoming more important and how to implement
The man has talent.Greatest fork and knife ball in history
Huh?
Which man are you talking about? I looked up Price’s minor league record and he was not good…..
“He’ll be tasked with getting Chris Sale, David Price, and Nathan Eovaldi back on track; all three have demonstrated their sky-high potential”
I wouldn’t lump Eovaldi in with the other two. He had a mere 100 innings of slightly above average production in 2018, but has otherwise been below average nearly his entire career.. The team is foolishly paying him like an ace, but he is more a mid-back end starter.; especially now that he can no longer keep the ball in the park like he used to excel at years ago..
I’d assume they are referring to what he showed in September and the postseason last year. Surely a small sample but I would guess that is what they mean
Yes, that is probably what they are doing. But a very small, very controlled (only 2 games with more than 3.2 innings pitched) 5 game month against September call-ups does not “sky-high potential” make, and playoffs are historically seen as heavily abnormality. This is especially true when it all came directly on the heals of a disastrous August which made regression a logical possibility. (In hindsight, however, that August of 6 games and 27ip with a 1.67 whip and 5.70 era does look fairly similar to the results of 2019)
But more to the point, I’m sure we can find an endless list of even garbage starters that had a fantastic very small stretch, and rarely ever would we call that sky-high potential. When results are so out of line with a players long shown norm like that, that is instead generally labeled a fluke.
I think John Farrell needs a job.
Calling Workman, and especially Barnes relief aces is a stretch. Workman has a great year and broke out at age 31. Could be a one hit wonder. Slow down on the ace talk.
Good points.
yeah i dont think either is a “relief ace.” Trienen and Stanek are perhaps guys who have at one point or another deserved the title. think it should only be reserved for relievers that are essentially the ace of the staff. (if one is to measure them up to the team’s starters) even if you want to name one the ace of the pen, naming Workman the ace of the Boston pen is like naming Trent Thornton the ace of the 2019 Blue Jays simply due to lack of viable alternatives.
That is an idiotic comparison. Workman posted a sub 2 ERA and struck out 104 batters in 70 innings. If you don’t want to give him the title because you think he’ll regress, fine. But he was absolutely a relief ace last season. You aren’t picking one because you have no viable alternative. He was one of the best rps in the game last year.
Jeremy Jeffress was a relief “ace” in 2018 also. Clearly not so much in 2019z RPs are obviously volatile. But workman was in 2019.
Hire a pitching coach first, before hiring a GM ?
My thoughts were the same. Seems a bit odd
I concur and the first person they should talk to about becoming their pitching coach is Mickey Callaway.
Maybe Bryan Price can help David Price get better. I also hope the Red Sox would try to sign free agent pitcher Zach Wheeler. He would fit in nicely for Porcello.
Does seem a little strange hiring a Pitching Coach unless Sox management likes the idea and have pretty much decided they like the idea of Co–GM’s and Cora is in agreement with the pitching coach choice.
Perhaps they will try to trade for Cincy’s Iglesias as their legit closer??