Red Sox pitching coach Juan Nieves was fired Wednesday, 28 games into the 2015 season. The Sox pitching staff, under Nieves' guidance, has compiled a 4.86 ERA, the worst in the American League and second worst in Major League Baseball behind the Colorado Rockies.
Red Sox GM Ben Cherington explained the move in a teleconference this afternoon.
"It got to the point where we felt like for us to make an improvement, we had to make a change. That we needed a new voice in that particular position."
Nieves joined the Red Sox in November, 2012 and was instrumental in the success of Boston's pitchers, who led the Red Sox to the World Series championship in 2013.
As for who the replacement will be, Cherington was not ready to name a new pitching coach.
"We are currently working on the replacement, I'm not sure yet if that person will be in place tomorrow night in Toronto. If he's not, I think John and his staff can handle the duties."
This season, the struggles of Clay Buchholz, Joe Kelly and Wade Miley, most notably, contributed to today's decision, announced by John Farrell.
Buchholz hasn't won since the season opener in Philadelphia. Kelly has started five games and allowed 18 earned runs with a 5.72 ERA. Miley is 1-3 through five starts and has a 7.15 ERA.
Despite the ugly numbers, Cherington expects the current starting rotation to stay intact, at least for the time being.
"We believe in the guys on this team, and we believe that we're going to start to play better. And that's going to happen brick by brick. We fully expect (the current five-man rotation) to continue to take the ball every five days."
Justin Masterson, who lost his first decision Wednesday night, and Rick Porcello, acquired in the offseason trade with Detroit that sent Yoenis Cespedes to the Tigers, have been the lone sources of hope in the starting rotation, combining for five of Boston's 13 wins.
Porcello is the only Red Sox starting pitcher with an ERA under 5.0.