Andrew Bailey on working collaboratively with others around him: ‘I view ourselves as coaches, as consultants for the player’
New Red Sox pitching coach Andrew Bailey will begin to get to work after being officially announced as new pitching coach on Tuesday. Bailey will collaborate with chief baseball officer Craig Breslow and manager Alex Cora on reshaping the pitching staff that was 21st in baseball with a 4.52 ERA.
As Bailey begins to work with Cora and Breslow, he is hopeful that everyone will work collaboratively to achieve the one common goal.
“I view ourselves as coaches as consultants for the player,” Bailey said to reporters on Tuesday evening. “We’re not to hide the ball, hide any information. We give them the facts. We want them to know how the industry values them. We want to maximize their earning potential.
“If we are able to maximize performance and earning potential, we in turn are creating value for the organization and winning ballgames. Each and every player needs to be coached just a little differently. And that’s why I feel strongly that for me, I don’t need to be the vessel all the time that is managing or coaching or delivering the information... We all have unique relationships with every player.”
Bailey helped develop pitchers Logan Webb and Kevin Gausman while pitching coach of the Giants. San Francisco ranked sixth in the big leagues in ERA (3.80) over those four seasons, while allowing the fewest home runs (525).
The 39-year-old raved about young starter Brayan Bello and see’s him as a future front-line starter.
“He has potential to be a front-line starter,” said Bailey. “He’s had some really good games.”
The Red Sox will be looking for Bailey to get the most out of his starting pitchers. Boston still needs to add a starter or two through free agency or trades this offseason. Bailey understands that for the longterm success of the Red Sox, they will need to develop pitching in-house, something the organization has struggled to do for over 20 years.
“I believe that, philosophically speaking, players are never finished products,” said Bailey. “Whether you’re a confident starter or you’re up and down and kind of on the option train, so to say. I think if we ever are a little bit complacent in that, negativity can creep in and poor performance. But if we have a vision and we can execute on that vision, the goal is to have a lot more frontline starters, and a system that is feeding the major league team, for sure.”
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