Homegrown and the lone holdover, Dana LeVangie readies for new challenge as pitching coach

When the 2017 Red Sox season ended with a whimper, in a four-game playoff loss to the Houston Astros in the American League Division Series, there was the deep sense of foreboding for many in the organization.

The team’s second-straight quick postseason exit immediately put manager John Farrell’s job in jeopardy, and with it, the job security of his coaching staff.

Sure enough, two days after the Sox were eliminated, Farrell was fired.

“It dawned on me a few days later,’’ said Dana LeVangie, who had served as Farrell’s bullpen coach, “that that last out in that final game of the playoffs may have been the last time I was at Fenway. It was scary. I was nervous about it.’’

The life of a major league baseball coach, after all, can be peripatetic. Indeed, the rest of Farrell’s coaching staff went elsewhere to find work for 2018 – Chili Davis and Brian Butterfield joined the Chicago Cubs’ coaching staff, Gary DiSarcina and Ruben Amaro Jr. went to the New York Mets, while Victor Rodriguez and Carl Willis were hired by the Cleveland Indians.

LeVangie heard from a number of other teams in the game, but his clear preference was to remain with the Red Sox. Though he’s just 48, he’s virtually a Red Sox lifer. His entire adult life – covering 27 years --  has been spent with the organization. Drafted out of American International College in Springfield, he spent six seasons in the minor leagues before serving an eight-year apprenticeship as a bullpen catcher.

He then worked a year as a pro scout and seven seasons as the Red Sox’ advance scout. In 2013, he was named bullpen coach for five years.

So, no, LeVangie wasn’t looking at other opportunities. A lifelong resident of Massachusetts, he wanted to remain with the Sox. His wife, Traci, is a teacher, and his two children – son Liam and daughter Avery – are enrolled in high school and active in sports.

“Big time,’’ said LeVangie, of his desire to remain with the organization, “not only for what I want to accomplish for my career in baseball, but also my family. I don’t ever want to leave the Boston Red Sox. I hope to one day retire and spend my entire career here.’’

LeVangie’s hopes came true a month after Farrell’s firing when he was chosen to be new manager Alex Cora’s pitching coach.

He’s spent the last few months getting ready for a series of firsts – first spring training, first regular season – as part of his new role.

Much of that has involved communicating with both the team’s pitchers and its training staff – monitoring off-season throwing programs and preparing for the team’s report date for pitchers and catchers on Feb. 14.

To date, the transition has been a smooth one.

“There’s that continuity that we’ve built along the way,’’ said LeVangie. “I think the guys feel that I’m someone who they respect and trust and who communicates with them. For the most part, it’s been positive. I’ve had some great texts from guys and they’re really happy for me.’’

By his own estimation, the promotion to pitching coach hasn’t really set in.

“Once I get into it, it will,’’ he said. “Maybe that first time during a game when I have to take a trip to the mound, which I’ve never done before. Those things haven’t set in and won’t until spring training and when the actual games start.’’

Even now, however, LeVangie understands that the job will be different. Beyond the increased responsibility, there’s the influence of analytics on pitching that simply didn’t exist when LeVangie’s coaching career began.

“It’s changed a lot,’’ he said. “There are different ways to grade pitches, to monitor movement and depth, spin rates … there’s more emphasis on attacking (certain quadrants of) the strike zone. It’s more about east-west rather than north-south. Basically, you’re trying to identify strengths – whether by the eye test or with numbers – to maximize their talent.’’

LeVangie will have the help of assistant pitching coach/vice president of pitching development Brian Bannister, who will handle a lot of metrics and help analyze mechanics and deliveries.

“We’ve already built a good relationship the last few years,’’ said LeVangie. “There’s mutual respect about how we go about our roles, as far as him interpreting the numbers and being able to communicate with guys and my perspective as a former catcher. Banny’s going to be a great resource for me.’’

All of that will come into sharper focus in the coming weeks. For now, there are times that LeVangie can hardly believe that he’s now the pitching coach of the same team he rooted for as a boy growing up in Whitman.

“I couldn’t have dreamt this,’’ he said. “I didn’t dream of being a pitching coach. I didn’t dream of being a bullpen coach. All I know is, I sort of worked hard to get to this point. I’ve been a good listener and I’ve built good relationships with people and I’ve always put the players in front of myself. And along the way, it’s kind of just taken its course.

“It’s one, as I said, that I couldn’t dream about. But it’s pretty special to be a part of this.’’

Along the way, LeVangie has been a survivor. In a sport in which change is constant and expected, he’s managed to remain with the Sox under five different general managers and seven different managers.

“I’ve survived a lot, no question,’’ acknowledged LeVangie with a chuckle. “It’s been brought to my attention more than once. The one thing that I would say is: you’re in this game for a reason. Your ability to have some tough conversations is important and I’ve never been one to hold back my voice for the sake of (self-preservation). I just think I’ve survived because of respect and putting the players before myself, and it’s definitely paid off.’’