![\"Red](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Soteropulos_John.jpg\")
Red Sox hitting coach John Soteropulos poses for a head shot during spring training. (Daniel Shirey\/MLB Photos via Getty Images)\nA straightforward approach<\/p>\n
When John Soteropulos left the ballpark on April 25, the Red Sox offense had just delivered its best performance of the season, a 17-1 shellacking of the Baltimore Orioles. The club\u2019s hitters seemed to have taken out weeks of frustration on the Orioles\u2019 pitching staff. So as far as he knew the plan for the rest of the weekend was simple: Grab some dinner, get some sleep and return to Camden Yards in the morning and try to finish the series strong.<\/p>\n
The Red Sox assistant hitting coach had no idea what the next 24 hours would entail.<\/p>\n
Following the game, top Red Sox decision makers met with Alex Cora and six members of the major league coaching staff and informed each that they were fired. Hitting coach Pete Fatse and two of his assistants were also caught in the purge, and when the dust settled, Soteropulos was the last man standing in the hitting department.<\/p>\n
In the blink of an eye, the all-important task of getting the Red Sox offense back on track rested on his shoulders.<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean, it\u2019s crazy,\u201d Soteropulos said of that whole weekend as he was elevated into Fatse\u2019s role. \u201cIt was a whirlwind for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n
Soteropulos now finds himself leading the Red Sox hitting department barely a month into his first big league season. Alongside his new, hastily assembled staff \u2014 which includes Nelson Paulino, Collin Hetzler and Jack Simonetty \u2014 Soteropulos has gotten to work trying to jumpstart an offense that remains stuck in the mud more than a quarter of the way into the season.<\/p>\n
Whether or not he can pull it off might mean the difference between a second straight playoff appearance or an early offseason.<\/p>\n
Red Sox hitting coach John Soteropulos poses for a head shot during spring training. (Daniel Shirey\/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
\nA straightforward approach<\/p>\n
Originally hired by the Red Sox in early 2023 during Chaim Bloom\u2019s final year leading the front office, Soteropulos served as minor league hitting coordinator prior to his promotion to the big league staff this past October. In that role he worked closely with a number of the club\u2019s up-and-coming prospects, many of whom are now in the majors, like Roman Anthony and Marcelo Mayer.<\/p>\n
Before that he spent three years working as a hitting trainer at Driveline Baseball, a prominent training facility that specializes in data-driven player development and biomechanics. He also played Division 1 college baseball at the University of California, where he was teammates with former Red Sox director of scouting Devin Pearson.<\/p>\n
Asked how he would sum up his hitting philosophy, Soteropulos said he\u2019d break it down into three simple bullet points.<\/p>\n
\u201cNumber one would be swing at strikes,\u201d Soteropulos said. \u201cWe want to swing at strikes and we want to swing at strikes in the heart of the strike zone, because that\u2019s where the most damage occurs.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to hit the ball hard, and we want to hit the ball hard on a line in the air,\u201d he continued. \u201cSo if we are consistently swinging at pitches in the heart of the strike zone and we\u2019re hitting them on a line and in the air, as a group and on a player basis we\u2019re going to be in a pretty good spot.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since taking over as the club\u2019s hitting coach Soteropulos said he\u2019s focused on developing a deeper rapport with his players and doing whatever he can to put them in the best position to succeed. Generally that hasn\u2019t involved big changes to the club\u2019s pregame routine, which is structured the same as it was prior to the staff shakeup, and he hasn\u2019t tried to force any radical adjustments upon the players.<\/p>\n
\u201cNothing wholesale or anything like that,\u201d Soteropulos said. \u201cFrom a consistency and training standpoint, a lot of those guys have a pretty good idea of why they\u2019re successful, and from our coaching standpoint, especially at this level, it\u2019s a lot of small dial turns.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chad Tracy, who succeeded Cora as the Red Sox\u2019s interim manager, also worked with Soteropulos during his time as Triple-A manager and said his familiarity with the players has been an asset to the club.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been good,\u201d Tracy said. \u201cI\u2019ve known Johnny for a while because we\u2019ve been in the minor leagues and we worked in the minor leagues, so I think Johnny being the one that was here and had a good familiarity with the hitters that were already here, what they do, their routines.\u201d<\/p>\n
Recognizing the challenging situation he\u2019s been put in, several Red Sox players asked by the Herald said Soteropulos has done well since taking the reins.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s doing an awesome job. He\u2019s reading the reports, sending the message that we need to hear,\u201d catcher Carlos Narvaez said. \u201cI bet it wasn\u2019t easy for him to adapt but he\u2019s been doing a really good job.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe shows up ready to work, he comes well prepared, he wants to be great and that\u2019s half the battle,\u201d shortstop Trevor Story said. \u201cA lot of good things to say about him and he\u2019s kind of thrust into a crazy situation.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Boston](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/AP26123712613002-1.jpg\")
Boston Red Sox catcher Carlos Narv\u00e1ez reacts after striking out during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros on Sunday, May 3 in Boston. (AP Photo\/Mark Stockwell)
\nDriveline influence?<\/p>\n
Before his elevation to hitting coach last month Soteropulos was not a well known figure within the Red Sox fanbase. But if there was one thing casual fans knew about him it was likely his background working for Driveline.<\/p>\n
In recent years Driveline has been at the forefront of a new wave of data-driven player development approaches that have contributed to the increases in velocity and bat speed seen across the sport. Many people associated with Driveline have been hired by MLB organizations, and the Red Sox in particular have embraced Driveline\u2019s philosophies, hiring Driveline founder Kyle Boddy as a special advisor to chief baseball officer Craig Breslow.<\/p>\n
But Driveline has also become a somewhat polarizing entity within the sport, and among the more traditional-minded in particular. the word \u201cDriveline\u201d has essentially supplanted \u201cMoneyball\u201d as shorthand for a new way of doing things that they think is hurting the game.<\/p>\n
People from that segment of the Red Sox fanbase might label Soteropulos as a \u201cDriveline Guy,\u201d but is that fair? Asked how Driveline has impacted his development as a coach and to what extent he\u2019s incorporated its methods into his work with the Red Sox, Soteropulos said there are inherent differences between what Driveline does and the constraints big league teams operate under.<\/p>\n
\u201cI worked there from \u201919 to \u201922 as a hitting trainer and their philosophy and training and environment and ecosystem, they just have more time and no games,\u201d Soteropulos said. \u201cSo a lot more of it is training focused, and it is a little bit more intensive with the biomechanics and the training aspect, where here, especially at the major league level, you want to develop the players and make sure they\u2019re getting better, but at the same time you want to make sure that they\u2019re going into the game with the best version of their swing and a clear-cut gameplan.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause they don\u2019t play games so they\u2019re able to be probably a little more aggressive with long-term stuff, but it\u2019s very objective driven,\u201d he continued. \u201cIt\u2019s just data-driven training is what it is.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Boston,](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/soxms018.jpg\")
Red Sox first baseman Willson Contreras spikes his helmet after striking out during a recent game. The Red Sox offense is still looking to turn things around after a poor showing through the first quarter of the season. (Matt Stone\/Boston Herald)
\nChasing better results<\/p>\n
Ultimately Soteropulos will be judged by how well the Red Sox offense performs, so how have things gone since he took over?<\/p>\n
In 27 games prior to the coaching changes the Red Sox averaged 4.1 runs per game and collectively batted .233 with a .667 OPS. Those numbers were somewhat inflated by the 17-1 blowout on the day of the change, which took place after the decision to fire Cora and his staff had already been made.<\/p>\n
Take that game away and the Red Sox averaged 3.7 runs per game with a .226 average and .641 OPS, and overall the club scored two runs or fewer in 12 of their first 27 games, going 10-17 over that stretch.<\/p>\n
Since Soteropulos and the new hitting staff came together, the Red Sox have averaged 3.0 runs per game, batted .237 with a .670 OPS and have scored two runs or fewer in eight of 17 games entering Saturday. The club went 8-9 over that stretch.<\/p>\n
To put those numbers in perspective, the league average this season is 4.4 runs per game with a .240 average and .708 OPS.<\/p>\n
Needless to say, the offense is still trying to find itself, but Soteropulos said he\u2019s encouraged by the signs he\u2019s seen even though the results haven\u2019t always been apparent on the field.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think guys are starting to slug more, I think guys are starting to control the process more or damage to different pitch types in 3-2 strike counts,\u201d Soteropulos said. \u201cWe\u2019re showing steady progress in those areas, albeit we definitely want to better in those areas but overall we\u2019re showing some good trends.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd it\u2019s a long season man, it\u2019s a long season, there\u2019s a lot that goes into it especially from like an ebbs and flows standpoint, the season is (seven) months long and when you look up at the end of the season it\u2019s 600-650 plate appearances,\u201d he continued. \u201cBut I\u2019m confident in the group, in the players, we have a lot of talented players that work really hard and are focused on the right things, and those outcomes, doubles, home runs, we\u2019re just going to start seeing more of those as the season goes on.\u201d<\/p>\n
But as Soteropulos has come to understand, baseball season doesn\u2019t stop no matter how much chaos or upheaval you might encounter. The only way out is through, so for the Red Sox that means showing up every day and working in the cages until things finally click.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t just get three off days in a row to figure it out,\u201d Soteropulos said. \u201cTrace said it best, once the first pitch comes we\u2019re playing baseball and it\u2019s our job to execute and hit the ball hard.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When John Soteropulos left the ballpark on April 25, the Red Sox offense had just delivered its best…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":701221,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[858,5,48,789,15690,78410,56252,4,33408,89,1035],"class_list":["post-701220","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-alex-cora","tag-baseball","tag-boston-red-sox","tag-carlos-narvaez","tag-chad-tracy","tag-driveline","tag-john-soteropulos","tag-mlb","tag-peter-fatse","tag-red-sox","tag-trevor-story"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116589279815425033","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/701220","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=701220"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/701220\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/701221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=701220"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=701220"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=701220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}