Since chief baseball officer Craig Breslow took over in late 2023, improving the Red Sox pitching development program has been a top priority. So when the man Breslow hired to lead those efforts, Justin Willard, departed to become the New York Mets’ new pitching coach earlier this fall, it left a critical vacancy for the Red Sox to fill.
Now, it appears Breslow has his new man.
According to multiple sources, the Red Sox have promoted Ben Buck as the club’s new director of pitching. Buck originally joined the Red Sox as a pitching coordinator this past January and over the past year has become a key figure within the club’s pitching program.
Buck will now oversee the organization’s entire pitching development infrastructure, working with both the major league pitching staff as well as each of the club’s minor league affiliates.
A big part of Buck’s job will be ensuring the organization keeps heading in the right direction.
Prior to Breslow’s arrival, the Red Sox famously struggled to develop homegrown pitching talent. The club had only produced a handful of reliable MLB starters since the turn of the 21st century, most notably Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz.
But over the past two years the Red Sox’s pitching program has become the envy of the sport, and now Boston boasts arguably the deepest well of young arms of any club in MLB.
Willard, Buck’s predecessor, was among those most responsible for that transformation. He worked directly with pitchers at all levels of the organization to ensure the club’s core philosophies were being taught, particularly the core principle of “throwing nasty stuff in the strike zone.”
Buck joined those efforts this past season, and the Red Sox saw numerous young pitching prospects take impressive leaps forward in their development. The most notable examples were Connelly Early and Payton Tolle, the latter of whom was in his first season as a professional after being drafted in 2024 and rose from High-A all the way to the majors.
Other young pitching prospects who have recently emerged include Hunter Dobbins, David Sandlin, Tyler Uberstine and Yhoiker Fajardo, among others, and the Red Sox will also fully integrate a new pitcher-heavy draft class this spring led by top picks Kyson Witherspoon, Marcus Phillips and Anthony Eyanson.
Before joining the Red Sox Buck spent five years with the New York Yankees, most recently spending three seasons as a Complex Pitching Coordinator. He also played Division 1 baseball at the University of Utah and went on to spend more than a decade serving as a college coach.
Buck’s elevation is the latest in a series of moves Breslow has made this offseason to fortify Boston’s pitching program. He also hired Quinn Cleary, formerly of the Seattle Mariners, as assistant director of pitching, and also brought in Ryan Otero as a special assistant to the chief baseball officer. Otero and Breslow previously worked together with the Chicago Cubs, with Otero taking over as director of pitching following Breslow’s departure to Boston.
The Red Sox have also made numerous additions to the club’s pitching staff, both at the big league and minor league level. Over the past few months Boston has added right-handers Sonny Gray, Johan Oviedo and Rule 5 pick Ryan Watson, left-hander Tyler Samaniego, and on Monday Breslow swung an unusual one-for-one prospect swap, sending Luis Perales to the Washington Nationals in exchange for lefty starter Jake Bennett.
