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Update (10/30)
Dave Bush has indeed been hired as the team’s new pitching coach. The move was first reported by Jared Carrabis.
Dave Bush is the new Red Sox pitching coach.
— Jared Carrabis (@Jared_Carrabis) October 30, 2019
(10/29)
The Red Sox have filled the top spot in their front office with Chaim Bloom, and they formally introduced him in the position on Monday. They also officially announced Brian O’Halloran’s promotion to General Manager in that same press conference. With the World Series having at most just a couple of games remaining, the offseason is just about upon us and Boston has most of their non-player decisions made. The one vacancy that is yet to be filled is pitching coach, but we may not be waiting too long for that.
Monday afternoon Alex Speier of the Boston Globe reported Dave Bush is the clear front-runner for the job. Sean McAdam of Boston Sports Journal had previously reported Bush was likely to be hired as either the pitching coach or the assistant pitching coach.
Bush is a former major-league pitcher, spending parts of nine seasons in the majors with most coming with the Brewers in the mid-to-late 2000s. He last pitched in the majors in 2013. Bush has since worked as a coach at the prep level in Maine as well as internationally. He joined the Red Sox organization in 2016 as a pitching development analyst and was promoted to the position of minor-league pitching performance coordinator for the 2019 season.
Bush’s job previously had him focused almost exclusively on the minor-league levels, though Speier notes in his report that he has some rapport with the players on the major-league roster.
Bush comes from a background of analytics, and has used that to tailor plans of attack specific to individual pitchers rather than using a one-size-fits-all approach. The Red Sox had some positive developments on the pitching front under Bush’s leadership this past year, with Thad Ward and Bryan Mata making the most notable leaps.
Nothing is official here yet, but Speier notes that this could only be days away from becoming a done deal. We will of course keep you updated if/when this does become official.