BOSTON — On Friday, the Boston Red Sox finalized changes to their coaching staff, promoting José Flores from the Minor Leagues to serve as the new first base coach and infield instructor, and adding Parker Quinn as the new catching instructor and bullpen catcher.
Earlier this offseason, the Sox also hired Dillon Lawson as assistant hitting coach and Chris Holt as bullpen coach.
The decision to promote Flores comes after two challenging seasons for the Red Sox in terms of infield defense. The 53-year-old Flores, who has built strong relationships with several of the team’s young players during his three years as bench coach for Triple-A Worcester, has experience as a Major League coach with both the Phillies (as first base coach in 2018) and Orioles (as third base coach and infield instructor from 2019-2020). His extensive background in defense includes five years as the Cubs’ infield coordinator from 2013-2017.
Quinn, 31, joins the Red Sox from the Yankees, where he was the manager of their Dominican Summer League team. Prior to that, Quinn held various coaching positions in college baseball, including roles at the University of Washington, University of Utah, and Southern Illinois Edwardsville.
The addition of Flores and Quinn is designed to provide additional support to Jason Varitek, who has carried much of the catching instruction duties in recent years. Varitek’s new role for 2025 will be focused on game planning and run prevention, a shift from his previous responsibilities.
The Red Sox are hopeful these staff changes, along with the additions of Lawson and Holt, will help the team become more fundamentally sound and better equipped for a playoff push after missing the postseason the last three years.
The remainder of manager Alex Cora’s coaching staff remains unchanged, including bench coach Ramón Vázquez, pitching coach Andrew Bailey, hitting coach Pete Fatse, assistant hitting coach Ben Rosenthal, third base coach/infield instructor Kyle Hudson, and bullpen catcher Charlie Madden.
