WORCESTER – Boston Red Sox Director of Player Development Brian Abraham announced on Monday, December 13, significant changes to the Worcester Red Sox coaching staff for 2022.
Abraham, a Worcester native, announced Chad Tracy as the new WooSox manger and Jose David Flores as the new bench coach. Mike Montville, a coach with the team last season, is now assistant hitting coach.
Worcester native Rich Gedman returns as hitting coach for the eighth consecutive season, a team record for a hitting coach. Pitching coach Paul Abbott also returns as pitching coach.
Chad Tracy, 36, the second WooSox manager in as many years, spent the last seven seasons in the Los Angeles Angels organization. Three of the seven were as manager of Low-A Burlington (2015) and High-A Inland Empire (2016-17). His last four years with the Angels were as Minor League Field Coordinator.
Tracy played nine professional seasons starting in 2006 and reached AAA with the Texas Rangers’ organization in 2010 with Oklahoma City and Round Rock in 2011. His last two years as a player were with the Rockies’ AAA team in Colorado Springs and the Royals AAA team in Omaha in 2013.
Tracy was born in Arlington Heights, IL, and grew up in Sarasota, FL, and Claremont, CA and played college baseball at Pepperdine University in Malibu, CA.
Jose David Flores, 50, the new WooSox bench coach, is a 20-year veteran of coaching and managing. He spent the last three years in Major League Baseball.
Flores spent 2019 and 2020 with the Baltimore Orioles as third base coach and infield coach. In 2018, working with Phillies’ manager Gabe Kapler, he coached first base and the infield. Flores’ four prior years, from 2013 to 2017, were as Minor League infield coordinator for the Chicago Cubs.
The Puerto Rican native managed the Puerto Rican National Team from 2011 to 2012 during the PanAm Games and Baseball World Cup. Flores was a coach for Team Puerto Rico in the 2013 World Baseball Classic. Managing the Cidra Bravos in the Puerto Rico Baseball Federation from 2004 to 2011, Flores won four national titles.
The Houston Astros drafted Flores in 1990, where he played in their minor league system through 1994, his only professional playing years.
Flores was born in Cidra, Puerto Rico and lives in Gurabo, Puerto Rico.
The WooSox finished the 2021 season with a record of 74 wins and 54 losses. The 2022 home opener at Polar Park is Tuesday, April 12, when they host the Phillies affiliate Lehigh Valley IronPigs.
Worcester opens is 2022 season on April 5 in Jacksonville.
