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The Boston Red Sox have relieved pitching coach Dave Bush of his duties following the conclusion of their 2023 campaign. The Red Sox finished last place despite a pretty solid offense and a brief window of contention in the middle of the year. The third base coach has also been fired as big changes are coming.
Bush is being fired from his role as pitching coach. The Red Sox have not had great pitching for a while now, and Alex Cora and company are going to go a new direction with their next hire.
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Their team ERA was 4.52, 10th-worst in the entire league. Their .256 batting average against was seventh-worst in baseball. They had zero complete games and gave up the 10th-most runs in the MLB. It was far from a banner year.
Fans believe his firing could have happened sooner, but they're grateful that the Red Sox organization is looking to the future.
Many fans believe Dave Bush's firing should be the first of many. A few think manager Alex Cora, who managed them to the 2018 World Series title and the 2021 ALCS, should be next in line.
Regardless, fans are pleased that the ownership isn't taking a last place finish lying down. Pitching has been a weak spot, and they are going to try and fix it. This is the first step.
Red Sox have struggled under Dave Bush
Dave Bush was hired in 2019. It has not been a good time in Boston since the Red Sox brought him in that year. They've had a good offense, bouyed by players like Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts and Rafael Devers, but the pitching has been poor.
Here are their team ranks for ERA in his tenure:
- 2019- 12th worst
- 2020- 3rd worst
- 2021- 16th worst
- 2022- 6th worst
- 2023- 10th worst
Part of this is that the Red Sox just don't have great arms. Chris Sale is a broken shell of his former self. The rest of the 2023 rotation was made up of castoffs or unknown players, like Kutter Crawford, Brayan Bello, Tanner Houck and Nick Pivetta. These aren't terrible players, but it's hard to have a good staff without stars.
Bush was apparently not helping, so the Red Sox have decided to move on.
