Red Sox Promote Former Yankees Pitching Coordinator To Prominent Role

The Boston Red Sox’s pitching development program has received a lot of recognition in the past year, and Ben Buck has assuredly played a role in that success.

Buck, who joined the Red Sox in January, previously spent five seasons in various minor-league roles with the New York Yankees. He was one of Boston’s minor-league pitching coordinators this past season, and helped former director of pitching Justin Willard revamp the club’s pitching infrastructure.

After Willard departed for a job with the New York Mets, Boston needed a new director of pitching, which essentially equates to a right-hand man for chief baseball officer Craig Breslow when dealing with matters of the internal pitching pipeline. In fact, Breslow held the “director of pitching” title with the Chicago Cubs prior to his hiring in Boston.

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Ben Buck takes over for Justin Willard

According to multiple reports on Tuesday, Buck will fill that role. On Tuesday, Robert Murray of FanSided was the first to report that Buck had taken over as the new director of pitching in Boston.

Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic noted last week, when the position was close to being filled, that the new director of pitching was “expected to be based in Boston, working with the major-league club while also traveling to minor-league affiliates to track the progress of the team’s pitching prospects, in a role similar to Willard’s.”

Also of note, the Red Sox hired Quinn Cleary, formerly of the Seattle Mariners, as an assistant director of pitching earlier this offseason. Cleary’s job functionality is expected to be similar to Buck’s.

While the Red Sox lost a bright mind in Willard (the new pitching coach in New York), it appears the internal pipeline is thriving. The Red Sox also have a number of intriguing new pitching acquisitions this offseason, all of whom have come via trade — Sonny Gray from the St. Louis Cardinals, Johan Oviedo from the Pittsburgh Pirates, and Jake Bennett from the Washington Nationals.

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