The San Diego Padres’ 2026 coaching staff will have a certain Boston Red Sox flavor to it.
“Introducing our 2026 Major League coaching staff,” the Padres official account posted on X Wednesday morning.
“The Padres coaching staff is awash with former Red Sox: Nick Punto (infield coach), Kevin Plawecki (catching coach), and Allen Craig (special assistant),” Peter Abraham of The Boston Globe wrote on Bluesky Thursday afternoon. “They listed 18 coaches. One for every 1.4 players. 😀”
Former infielder Nick Punto was the first of the trio to suit up for the Red Sox, playing with Boston for 65 games during the 2012 season.
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The 48-year-old appeared with the Philadelphia Phillies (2001 to 2003), Minnesota Twins (2004 to 2010) and St. Louis Cardinals (2011) prior to joining the Red Sox in December 2011.
Punto was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers in August 2012 as part of the blockbuster deal that also sent Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford and Josh Beckett west. Punto last played in 2014 with the then-Oakland Athletics and joined the Friars coaching staff in January.
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Former first baseman/outfielder Allen Craig closed his playing career with Boston, appearing in 65 games with the club in 2014 and 2015.
Craig spent four-plus seasons with the Cardinals (winning a World Series alongside Punto in 2011) before being sent to the Red Sox with pitcher Joe Kelly in exchange for starter John Lackey and a minor-leaguer at the 2014 trade deadline.
The one-time All-Star retired in April 2019 and soon joined San Diego’s front office as an advisor to baseball operations.
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Former catcher Kevin Plawecki played for the New York Mets (2015-2018) and Cleveland then-Indians (2019) prior to appearing in 148 games across two-plus campaigns with Boston from 2020 to 2022.
Plawecki signed with the Red Sox in January 2020 and was released in September 2022 before playing his final three MLB games with the Texas Rangers at the end of that season.
The 34-year-old first joined the Padres organization in January as an instructor for their rookie-level affiliate, the Arizona Complex League Padres.
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Featured image via Tom Szczerbowski/Imagn Images
