The Red Sox announced that they have added three new coaches to their staff today. José David Flores is now the interim bench coach. Pablo Cabrera is the interim first base coach/outfield instructor. Jack Simonetty has been hired as an interim hitting assistant. Chris Cotillo of MassLive first reported the news on Flores and Simonetty while Alex Speier of The Boston Globe was first on Cabrera.
The moves are in response to the stunning Red Wedding-style massacre that occurred in Baltimore this weekend. The Sox fired manager Alex Cora as well as his hitting coach Peter Fatse, assistant hitting coach Dillon Lawson, bench coach Ramón Vázquez, third base/outfield coach Kyle Hudson, and major league hitting strategist Joe Cronin. Also, run prevention coach Jason Varitek is being reassigned to a different role within the organization.
Some of those positions were quickly filled, at least on an interim basis. Chad Tracy was called up from the minors to take over as interim manager. Chad Epperson became interim third base coach. Collin Hetzler was added to the hitting staff. That still left the overall coaching group far lighter than before, but today’s additions effectively get the staff back to previous levels.
Flores, 55, has a decent amount of previous MLB coaching experience. He was infield coordinator for the Cubs from 2012 to 2017. He was the first base coach for the Phillies in 2018, then served as third base coach in Baltimore for the next two seasons. The Sox hired him to work as bench coach for Triple-A Worcester, a job he held from 2022 to 2024. He was promoted to the big league staff as first base coach going into last season.
The other two hirees are far less experienced and are joining a big league staff for the first time. Cabrera, 28, was hired by the Red Sox in 2023 to work as a coach for Double-A Portland. He then worked as defensive coach in the club’s Fort Myers complex, before getting promoted to infield/outfield defensive coordinator for this season.
Simonetty, 26, was hired as a video and technology associate for Worcester in 2023. His title was player development associate in 2024. Last year, he served as assistant hitting coach for Single-A Salem. He began this year as hitting coach for the Florida Complex League Red Sox.
The Sox will now play the majority of the 2026 season with a big chunk of the staff being hired mid-season for interim roles. Whether any of them can stick around depends on what happens in the coming months and who is in charge in 2027.
Photo courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel, Imagn Images
