Speier: Why the Red Sox felt their pitching infrastructure needed to change
From Alex Speier at the Boston Globe on October 8, 2019:
A strange soundscape characterized the Red Sox clubhouse following a loss in the middle of a mystifying season-opening West Coast swing. In the otherwise silent wake of defeat, the rotating blades of fans aimed at the skyscraper-like towers of servers in the middle of the clubhouse whirred noisily — necessary to prevent the equipment from bursting into flames.
Welcome to game-planning in baseball’s modern era. Data and analytics now claim central roles in shaping on-field strategy, changing the cultural and physical landscape of how teams are organized. It is that change, perhaps more than the vague notion of an underperforming, unhealthy Red Sox pitching staff, that explained the team’s announcement on Tuesday of a pitching infrastructure shakeup.
Dana LeVangie — who’s been a member of the Red Sox organization for 29 years, including the last seven on the coaching staff — was reassigned from pitching coach to a role in the pro scouting department. Steve Langone, the advance scouting manager, likewise will move to pro scouting. Brian Bannister, who’d served an in-uniform role as assistant pitching coach on top of his duties as VP of pitching development, will no longer be part of the big league coaching staff. Instead, he’ll focus on pitcher development programs, particularly in the minors.
Read the full article here: https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/redsox/2019/10/08/why-red-sox-felt-their-pitching-infrastructure-needed-change/R6A19kQ04ykZjw2wWDZdAJ/story.html
Originally published: October 9, 2019. Last Updated: October 9, 2019.