Former Orioles director of athletics Chris Holt has reached an agreement to become the new Red Sox coach, reports Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com. Holt has already received an official offer, and the hire could be effective next week, according to Kubatko.
Holt left Baltimore’s staff at the end of the season as the organization made coaching changes after back-to-back playoff and second-place finishes in the postseason. He was one of many coaches/instructors to be replaced, joining hitting coaches Ryan Fuller and Matt Borgschulte.
Baltimore general manager Mike Elias was familiar with Holt when the two were together in the Astros organization. He hired Holt as the Orioles’ new minor league coordinator in 2019. Holt rose to the title of major league hitting coach and became even more frustrated, tasked with overseeing the organization’s entire practice. Holt held those roles simultaneously in an effort to create a unified upward vision for all of the group’s senior staff and development efforts.
Holt will join the Red Sox staff with little focus on his career. He will join an improved pitching practice in Boston that began when Craig Breslow, a former major league reliever entering his second season as the team’s CEO, hired former Sox assistant Andrew Bailey away from the Giants to serve as the team’s new outfielder. coach. Holt will also work closely with another Breslow hire last season: Red Sox pitching director Justin Willard (the same role Holt held in Baltimore and the one Breslow held with the Cubs before landing the top job in Boston).
Holt fills a role that was filled when the Sox fired six coaches, including bullpen coach Kevin Walker, at the end of the season. Walker has been around since he was hired by former baseball executive Chaim Bloom back in 2020.
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