Red Sox hiring bullpen coach who oversaw division rival’s pitching for 5 years

Red Sox hiring bullpen coach who oversaw division rival’s pitching for 5 years
Chris Holt is the newest addition to the Red Sox’ coaching staff. (AP Photo/Will Newton)AP

To fill one of two remaining vacancies on their coaching staff, the Red Sox are bringing in a former employee of a division rival.

Boston is hiring former Orioles pitching coach and director of pitching Chris Holt as its bullpen coach, a baseball source confirmed Wednesday. Holt will replace Kevin Walker, who was one of three big league coaches fired after the season. Walker spent five years on the big league coaching staff.

Holt’s hiring was first reported by MASN’s Roch Kubatko.

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Holt, 42, was born and raised in Portland, Maine, where he still lives. He spent six years in the Orioles organization, including five as Baltimore’s director of pitching (since 2020). Three of those seasons were spent in the dugout as Brandon Hyde’s pitching coach, a role Holt took on from 2021-2023 while continuing to oversee the entire organization’s pitching structure. He exclusively served as director of pitching in 2024 with Drew French taking over the uniformed pitching coach role. In Boston, he’ll be a top lieutenant to pitching coach Andrew Bailey in a group that also includes director of pitching Justin Willard and game-planning coordinator Jason Varitek.

Holt spent one season pitching in the Pirates system (2002), spending the season at Low-A after being taken in the 21st round out of Flagler College in Florida. He was an amateur coach at the collegiate and high school levels before scouting for the O’s in 2012 and 2013. His affiliated coaching career began in 2014, his first of four years with Astros affiliates before becoming Houston’s assistant pitching coordinator in 2018. He joined Baltimore for the 2019 season with Mike Elias, who left the Astros to become the Orioles general manager. Holt left the Orioles after the 2024 season.

With Holt and new assistant hitting coach Dillon Lawson (promoted from within) in the fold, the Red Sox are down to one opening on their coaching staff as they look to replace departed first base coach Andy Fox. The club is nearing the conclusion of that search, according to an industry source, with WooSox manager Chad Tracy believed to be a potential candidate.

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