Meet the handful of new coaches set to join the Triple-A Worcester Red Sox this season
WORCESTER — The Worcester Red Sox have a few new faces joining their coaching staff this season.
On Thursday, the Boston Red Sox announced personnel moves across their player development department — including a handful of changes in Worcester.
Doug Clark has been promoted to the WooSox staff as a hitting coach after spending the last two years in the same role with the Double-A Portland Sea Dogs. Clark will team up with Red Sox Hall of Famer Rich Gedman, who was the first hitting coach in WooSox history and has spent the past nine seasons in that role with the the Red Sox Triple-A club.
“Doug has been with Portland the last couple of years and has been with a lot of players who have been on the Worcester roster and are currently in the big leagues,” said Brian Abraham, Boston Red Sox director of player development. “He is one of the guys who challenges players. ... He’s hard-working and generally cares about the players and the rest of the staff and is going to come in and compete every day.
“I think he’s the right type of person we need to have in the Worcester clubhouse.”
Prior to his two years with the Sea Dogs, Clark spent seven seasons as a hitting coach in the San Francisco Giants farm system. The former Giants farmhand was drafted by San Francisco in the seventh round of the 1998 draft and played two seasons in the majors with the Giants (2005) and Oakland Athletics (‘06).
Clark, who grew up in Springfield, graduated from the University of Massachusetts (Amherst) and initially played on a football scholarship with the Minutemen before walking on to the baseball team.
“For any of us who are from here, understanding the passion of the fans and the importance of the Red Sox organization and the importance of developing our young talent is valuable,” said Abraham, who grew up in Worcester. “... Springfield is a little bit of the western version of Worcester in a lot of ways.”
Gedman, who grew up around the corner from Polar Park on Lafeyette Street in Worcester, oversaw a WooSox offense last season that ranked fourth in the International League in home runs (215) but tied for last in the 20-team league in batting average (.249). Former WooSox assistant hitting coach Mike Montville wasn’t rehired this offseason after spending two years in that role with the club.
With Clark now joining Gedman on staff, how will having two hitting coaches work in Worcester?
“I think they both have different skill sets, different backgrounds and unique experiences to draw from,” Abraham said. “... The reality is in terms of providing individual insight and feedback, having one coach to be able to do that on the hitting side is really hard to do.
“The bigger picture is having success for all these players long-term in Boston.”
'We are truly going to miss him': The Ryan Fitzgerald farewell tour hit Worcester last weekend
Other WooSox moves include Dan DeLucia taking over as the new pitching coach.
DeLucia replaces Paul Abbott, who was not retained following three seasons with the club. DeLucia previously spent time in Fort Myers as the rehab pitching coach and as an assistant baseball coach at Ohio State University.
“(DeLucia) is relatively new to pro ball but someone who is intelligent and understands the body and pitching and has a strong ability to build relationships with players and understand what they need to do to have success,” Abraham said. “... We feel like it’s a really good fit.”
Noah Junis has been hired as the new bullpen coach in Worcester following a stint at Premier Pitching Performance from 2021-23. Joe Hudson has been promoted to be the club’s strength and conditioning coach after previously working with Portland in the same role.
— Contact Tommy Cassell at tcassell@telegram.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @tommycassell44.
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: WooSox hire Doug Clark as hitting coach, Dan DeLucia as pitching coach
