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The Boston Red Sox made a key hiring in their coaching staff on Tuesday, announcing former pitcher Andrew Bailey as the new pitching coach under manager Alex Cora. Bailey spent the past four seasons as the pitching coach for the San Francisco Giants.
During that span the Giants had one of the best ERAs in the league and allowed the fewest home runs of any pitching staff. Bailey replaces Dave Bush, who was Boston's pitching coach since the 2020 season.
Bailey played in eight MLB seasons, appearing in 265 games for five different teams. He made his debut with the Oakland Athletics in 2009 and played for the Red Sox for two seasons in 2012 and 2013. He pitched in 49 games wearing a Boston uniform.
The Red Sox tend to keep things in-house or at least make their hires based on people familiar with the franchise, whether that be former players, coaches, etc. Alex Cora himself is a person who had ties to the Red Sox organization before being hired as the manager.
It is not a guarantee to land a job with Boston, but it goes a long way in a negotiation. It may have played a factor in the Red Sox hiring Andrew Bailey to their bench staff.
Boston's pitching staff was mediocre at best in 2023. It finished with the 21st-ranked ERA and allowed the 10th most runs. Those are not championship-winning numbers, but the Red Sox weren’t a championship-winning team last season, nor were they expected to be.
Hiring Andrew Bailey won’t fix all of Boston's problems, but it could help the pitching staff get back in shape which would put the Red Sox in a position to make some noise in 2024.
