Red Sox promote Dave Bush to become their new pitching coach
The Boston Red Sox filled another vacancy in their ranks yesterday as they promoted Dave Bush to become their new pitching coach.
The Red Sox wasted no time on the first day of the offseason as they officially introduced their new pitching coach, Dave Bush. Boston also announced Kevin Walker as the new assistant pitching coach. Bush will be taking over the mantle from Dana LeVangie who will now serve as a pro scout.
Bush isn’t new to the Red Sox as he joined the organization back in 2016 and has spent time as an analyst and coordinator in the minor league system. Though Boston had one of the best pitching squads during their 2018 World Series run, it was drastically lacking in 2019 finishing with a 4.70 ERA.
Injuries plagued the pitching staff this past year and the Sox saw Chris Sale, David Price, and Nathan Eovaldi all spend time on the IL. The two lefties would get shut down before the end of the season and miss the final weeks of 2019. All three are expected to be as healthy as can be by the time Spring Training rolls around, and Boston will need that more than anything.
Dave Bush was a pitcher himself during a nine-year tenure in the majors split between Toronto, Milwaukee, and Texas. He posted a career record of 56-69, a 4.73 ERA, and a 768/296 K/BB ratio. Very respectable numbers and he brings the experience that could truly help this pitching staff get back on track.
While working in the minors he focused on the development of different pitch designs that could maximize the effectiveness of their delivery. This is something the main club needs help in as there were far too many times this year where it didn’t seem like the pitch variety was too deep.
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Granted most pitchers only have a few pitches that they fully rely on it was the lack of creativity in when they were used that would often hurt the Boston hurlers. With the quality of arms on the Red Sox roster, there’s no reason that they shouldn’t be mowing down batters left and right. Now that they have a former pitcher working with them daily we may see that dominance again.
If Bush can come into the coaching staff and get the guys thinking outside the box with their pitch selection then the Red Sox can find themselves on top once again. His analytics background can also be a help to Alex Cora who uses a strong mix of data and baseball instincts to make his decisions.
Dave Bush inherits a great pitching staff from LeVangie and with his experience on and off the field he can be a great asset to the organization. It’s one thing to understand the mechanics but actually have the experience of being on the mound is far different. LeVangie brought his expertise from his time as a catcher and now Boston has a coach from the other side of the equation.
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Adding Dave Bush as the pitching coach could be the coach this staff needs to get back to true form. He’s definitely got the aces to play the best hand possible it’s just a matter of getting them at the right time. Bases on his resume, it looks like the Red Sox have another strong hire.