BOSTON — The Red Sox will shake up their coaching staff with Torey Lovullo serving as the acting manager in skipper John Farrell’s absence.
Red Sox bullpen coach Dana LeVangie will become Boston’s bench coach, likely starting Monday, according to Lovullo. The bench coach position was vacated by Lovullo, who will manage the Red Sox for the remainder of the season as Farrell goes through chemotherapy treatment for his Stage 1 lymphoma.
“There’s a lot happening in the dugout,” Lovullo said before Sunday’s game against the Seattle Mariners at Fenway Park. “I know it’s hard for people to understand what’s going on, but from my point of view, there are three or four different areas that I’ve got to run into. To have that bench coach there to challenge some of my thoughts, to endorse some of my thoughts, it’s going to be nice to have, especially given Dana’s background.
“There’s immediate trust there (with LeVangie). There’s a guy who’s respected in this game. Being able to bounce off some thoughts, it’s going to be invaluable to me.”
LeVangie, who served as Boston’s bullpen catcher for eight seasons from 1997 through 2004, returned as the Red Sox’s bullpen coach when Gary Tuck retired from the position before the 2013 season. The Whitman, Mass., native, who also bounced around the Red Sox farm system for six seasons as a catcher from 1991 to 1996, was a logical choice to shift to the dugout based on his experience and his familiarity with the organization.
“The second part of that is he’s our catching instructor,” Lovullo said in explaining the coaching change. “We’ve got a young catcher in Blake Swihart behind the plate. He’s going to get a little bit closer to the action, he’s going to be able to have interactions with Blake and Ryan Hanigan in between innings. There’s a lot of value to that as well.”
Triple-A Pawtucket pitching coach Bob Kipper will fill LeVangie’s spot in Boston’s bullpen. It’s unclear at this point who will become the PawSox’s pitching coach with Kipper joining the major league staff.
“A lot of moving parts there and we wanted to stay internal,” Lovullo said. “We know that these two guys know baseball on a really good level, especially from within our system and I think the fit’s going to be really special.”
Farrell said Friday after announcing his lymphoma diagnosis that he intends to return as Red Sox manager in 2016.
Thumbnail photo via Steve Mitchell/USA TODAY Sports Images
