Shortly after the 2026 season ended, Boston Red Sox fans were told not to expect any major coaching shakeups before the next season. Chad Tracy in a post-season interview with NESN confirmed that no significant switches were anticipated.
But the Red Sox on October 21 announced that interim third base coach Chad Epperson will take Tracy's former role managing the Triple-A Worcester Red Sox, according to Chris Cotillo of MassLive. Cotillo also reports that interim first base coach Pablo Cabrera will return to his old station as defensive coordinator of the Sox's minor league system. Sean McAdam of MassLive reports that the Red Sox do not yet know who will replace Epperson and the other reassigned coaches in the major leagues.
Before the shocking April 25 firing of Alex Cora and five other coaches on his staff, Epperson managed the Double-A Portland Sea Dogs. It didn't take long for his inexperience as a third base coach to materialize in his decisions.
Epperson made some truly brutal send decisions for the Red Sox this year, mostly early in his tenure in the big leagues. Slower Sox runners were being thrown out at the plate by many feet, costing the team precious runs when its offense was at its worst. Epperson had to be extra aggressive because the Sox's offense couldn't reliably score runners, but having them thrown out before the next batter even has a chance to hit is also a bad strategy.
Red Sox move interim third base coach Chad Epperson back to minor leagues to manage WooSox
Epperson was also at the center of a funny controversy after he ran into fair territory to make a judgment on a ball in deep left field. A perfect relay from the Baltimore Orioles resulted in the "safe" call being overturned, so they play didn't require any ruling from MLB on its legality, but few people had ever seen a major league baseline coach run into the field of play to make a call before.
The Triple-A job is essentially a promotion for Epperson, given his interim status in the big leagues. He has big shoes to fill, however, because Tracy was extremely popular among the player base in Worcester. Epperson has never managed at the Triple-A level before, but he did manage a Frontier League team in 2002 before he returned to the Red Sox organization.
After a rocky start in the big leagues, Epperson found his footing and got through the second half of the season without drama. He knows Boston's farm system well and has preexisting relationships with many WooSox players from his time in Double-A, so he's the ideal candidate to fill Tracy's old role.
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