Former Boston Red Sox Pitching Coach Lands New Gig with World Champs

Former Boston Red Sox pitching coach Dave Bush has a new gig with the World Champion Texas Rangers.

Per the Rangers' website:

The Rangers have hired former Red Sox pitching coach Dave Bush as director of pitching strategy, the club announced on Thursday. Bush, Boston's pitching coach from 2020-23, was an MLB pitcher for nine seasons, including one in Texas in ’11.

Bush had been part of the Red Sox organization since 2016, when he was first hired as a pitching development analyst. In ’19, he was named the organization's Minor League pitching coordinator before joining the big league staff the next year.

Bush was fired as the Red Sox pitching coach this offseason and replaced ultimately by Andrew Bailey. The Red Sox finished last in the American League East in each of the last two seasons and issues in the starting rotation were widely seen as the biggest reason for the lack of success.

In fairness to Bush, the Red Sox didn't really invest in the starting rotation over the last few years, electing to sign stopgap options like Garrett Richards, Martin Perez and Corey Kluber to deals instead of big-money, sure things. Furthermore, the team dealt with injuries across the board, especially to Chris Sale. They also saw Garrett Whitlock Tanner Houck and James Paxton miss large swaths of time in 2023 alone.

As a player, Bush spent nine years in the big leagues with the Brewers, Blue Jays and Rangers. He made 187 career starts, going 56-69 with a 4.73 ERA.