The Red Sox announced a slew of player development personnel moves on Thursday, headlined by new titles for Worcester, Mass. natives Brian Abraham and Rich Gedman.
Abraham has been promoted from director of player development to senior director of player development. When he first joined the Red Sox staff in 2013, he served as bullpen catcher for a bullpen that included current chief baseball officer Craig Breslow and pitching coach Andrew Bailey.
Gedman will serve as a player development hitting advisor. He spent the last decade as Triple-A hitting coach, but his ties to the organization date back to 1977, when he was signed by the Red Sox as an undrafted free agent. He debuted in September ‘80 after the Carlton Fisk free agency snafu, and caught for the Sox from 1980-90, becoming their everyday catcher after the Carlton Fisk free agency snafu in ‘81. Gedman finished runner-up to Yankees pitcher Dave Righetti for American League Rookie of the Year in ‘91 and back-to-back All-Star seasons in ‘85 and ‘86. Two weeks after his MLB debut, Gedman celebrated his 21st birthday by catching Dennis Eckersley’s one-hitter. In ‘86, he was behind the dish for Roger Clemens’ record-setting 20-strikeout game, as well as Game 6 of the World Series.
Gedman rejoined the organization in 2011, working as the hitting coach for the now-defunct Short-A Lowell Spinners, then moving up to Class-A Salem, and Double-A Portland. In 2015, he was promoted to the Triple-A club in Pawtucket, where he’d once caught the first nine innings of a 33-inning contest, the longest game in professional baseball history. He remained with the PawSox when they moved to Worcester and became the WooSox in 2021.
The Red Sox also unveiled this year’s field staff for each minor league affiliate. In Gedman’s place, the Red Sox hired Collin Hetzler to serve as co-hitting coach with Doug Clark. Hetzler spent the last four seasons in the Mets’ organization, the most recent two as Triple-A Syracuse’s hitting coach.
Chad Tracy and Chad Epperson will return as Triple-A and Double-A managers, respectively, but Iggy Suarez, who’s managed High-A Greenville since 2018, is now the WooSox defensive coach. Liam Carroll, who managed Low-A Salem the last two seasons, will replace Suarez in High-A. Ozzie Chavez has been promoted from Salem bench coach to manager.
The WooSox are also adding Nick LaRue as strength and conditioning coach. LaRue spent the last three years as a Houston Astros minor league strength and conditioning coach.