BOSTON — The Red Sox are only halfway done with their hitting coach search.
Despite hiring Greg Colbrunn to be the club’s primary hitting coach, Red Sox skipper John Farrell reiterated his intention to appoint an assistant hitting coach and employ a two hitting coach system.
Although Farrell is still sifting through possibilities, he identified one viable candidate for the open job on Wednesday.
“We’re not close [to hiring an assistant], but I will say we have spoken to Victor Rodriguez who would be the leading candidate for this second position,” Farrell said. “But we’re not at the point of naming that individual.”
Rodriguez has served as the Red Sox’ minor league instructor and hitting coordinator for the past six seasons. The 51-year-old also has a son who is scout in the Red Sox organization.
But as Farrell continues his search for an assistant, he is committed to hiring a candidate that shares Colbrunn’s hitting philosophies. That way, Red Sox players could avoid confusion from potential conflicting messages.
“Once that rapport is built with those two staff members, it gives that ability to have that trust,” Farrell said. “If Greg is on the field doing early batting practice and the assistant is in the cage working with another set of hitters to get them ready to come out on the field, there’s known information that is being given to all hitters that are consistent — even though there’s going to be two different sets of eyes that might view a hitter slightly differently.
“So the consistency of the message and frequency that communicates between two coaches — those are the two most important factors, so that hitters aren’t confused or given mixed messages.”
Colbrunn — along with the assistant — will collectively replace Dave Magadan, who left the Red Sox over the offseason to take the hitting coach job with the Rangers.
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