McAdam: Dana LeVangie out as Red Sox pitching coach; other changes to staff announced

Following a season in which their starting rotation failed them badly and contributed to a 24-game drop in their win total, the Red Sox Tuesday announced that Dana LeVangie, who had served as the team's pitching coach in each of the last two seasons, would not return to the role in 2020.

LeVangie will, instead, continue to work for the team as a pro scout.

The Sox announced additional changes to their staff as well, with Brian Bannister ending his time as assistant pitching coach but continuing to serve as Vice President, Pitching Development focused on pitching development programs primarily in the minor leagues.

Meanwhile, Steve Langone, who had served as the manager of advance scouting, will return to a scouting role.

The Sox also confirmed that assistant hitting coach Andy Barkett will not return, a development widely reported last week.

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Even after the Sox finished 19th overall in staff ERA (4.70), the removal of LeVangie qualifies as something of a mild surprise.

In the final week of the season, both members of the Baseball Operations staff and manger Alex Cora seemed to dodge questions about the makeup of the coaching staff going forward, saying that evaluations were ongoing.

That serve as a hint that a shakeup was coming, and it seemed apparent, in the wake of Barkett's dismissal and the team's continuing refusal to say that the rest of the staff would return for another season, that additional changes were in store.

LeVangie was praised for his work with the staff when the Sox won the 2018 World Series and remained highly popular with the pitching staff. His promotion from bullpen coach to pitching coach after the 2017 season was heartily endorsed by the team's veteran pitchers, led by starters Chris Sale, David Price and Rick Porcello.

In the 2018 postseason, the Sox deftly used most of their starting pitchers as "rovers'' in the postseason, helping to fill in gaps in the team's suspect bullpen.

But the 2019 season got off to wretched start, in part because the team's collection of starting pitchers was given a light spring training workload in recognition of the toll of the wear-and-tear incurred in the previous October. That strategy backfired in a big way when the Sox stumbled to a 2-8 start as the team's starters flopped in the first few weeks while still trying to build up arm strength.

LeVangie was not alone in his support of the spring program; manager Alex Cora fully endorsed it too and continued to do so throughout the season, even as it became obvious that it had backfired.

But the team's pitching woes weren't limited to the first few weeks. Sale experienced his worst season and was shut down in August with an elbow injury; Price began well in the first half, but made several trips to the IL -- once for elbow/forearm issues and later, with a wrist cyst; and Porcello posted the highest ERA of his career.

The team's bullpen also under-performed, done in by the lack of a proven closer and a poorly constructed "bullpen-by-committee'' approach in the first half.

LeVangie had been a Red Sox employee for better than 30 years -- first as a minor league catcher and later as a bullpen catcher, scout, bullpen coach and pitching coach. In the uncertainty that followed former manager John Farrell's dismissal after the 2017 season, LeVangie had offers from a number of other organizations, but preferred to remain with the Sox -- partly out of loyalty to the only organization he had known and for family reasons, with two children in high school at the time.

Cora, who had formed a relationship with LeVangie during his playing days, was impressed enough with LeVangie's baseball acumen that he originally proposed having LeVangie serve as his bench coach. That request was vetoed by former president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski, who insisted that Cora, who had managed before, choose a more experienced dugout assistant.

Bannister is steeped in both analytics and biomechanics of pitching, and in truth, his "re-assignment'' actually began during the season. He was absent from the major league team for large chunks of the season, instead focused at the minor league level, overseeing the development of the organization's pitching prospects.

The Sox have struggled to produce starting pitching from within and haven't developed a starter of any note for themselves since Clay Buchholz made his debut in 2008.

It's unknown in what direction the Sox might turn to replace LeVangie. One in-house possibility could be former catcher and captain Jason Varitek, who has seen his role with the team increase in recent seasons. In the past, Varitek, who has young children, had been reluctant to commit to the notion of being a full-time coach or manager, given the amount of travel and time away from home such a role would require.