The Boston Red Sox were coming off their biggest win of the season on Saturday afternoon, beating the Baltimore Orioles 17-1 at Camden Yards. Just a few short hours later, Boston sent shockwaves through the baseball world, dismissing manager Alex Cora along with several members of his coaching staff. Now the interim staff is starting to take shape.
In the wake of Cora's dismissal, the Red Sox announced that Worcester Red Sox manager Chad Tracy will be the team's interim manager. He will be joined by his hitting coach in Triple-A, Colin Heltzer, as well as Double-A Portland's manager Chad Epperson, who will be taking over as third-base coach.
They will be joining the holdovers from Cora's staff: first base coach Jose Flores, pitching coach Andrew Bailey, bullpen coach Chris Holt, hitting coach John Soteropulos and catching instructor Parker Guinness.
A Statement from the Boston Red Sox: pic.twitter.com/7NXev6jpqe
The 40-year-old Tracy has been the Worcester Red Sox manager since 2022, leading them to a 310-285 record over four seasons. Prior to joining the Red Sox organization, Tracy spent three years as a manager in the Los Angeles Angels organization from 2015 to 2017 before transitioning to the role of minor league field coordinator.
Tracy worked closely with the Red Sox' young core of Marcelo Mayer, Roman Anthony, Payton Tolle, and Connelly Early during their time in Worcester. He was named as the best managerial prospect in a Baseball America survey in both 2023 and 2024. Now, he'll get his shot in the big leagues.
Heltzer joined the WooSox hitting staff in 2025 after spending four years working in the New York Mets organization, the final two as the hitting coach for Triple-A Syracuse. During his time with the Mets organization, he was named the Mets Minor League Staff Member of the Year. Heltzer will join the lone holdover from the major league hitting department, Soteropulos.
Epperson is a veteran of the Red Sox organization, now in his 25th season with the team, first spending eight years in minor league coaching roles before 12 years as catching coordinator. Epperson was in his fifth season as manager of Double-A Portland, where, with a 300-266 record, he was the winningest manager in Sea Dogs history. Now, he heads up to the big leagues, where he will replace Kyle Hudson as the third-base coach.
It's hard to view the Red Sox's massive coaching staff shake-up as anything other than a white flag on the 2026 season. All three of Tracy, Heltzer, and Epperson come from player-development backgrounds, working closely with Boston's young core of Mayer, Anthony, Tolle, and Early, as well as Kristian Campbell, Triston Casas, and a number of Boston's other homegrown talent.
Clearly, Red Sox Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow was unhappy with the development of the team's young stars at the major league level and was seeking to add familiar voices back into the clubhouse as the team looks to right the ship after a disastrous start to the season.
Red Sox president Sam Kennedy and Breslow will meet with the media on Sunday morning in Baltimore.
Meanwhile, the Chad Tracy era will be underway as the Red Sox look to carry the momentum from Saturday's 17-1 win into a series victory over the Orioles. First pitch from Camden Yards set for 1:35 p.m. ET.
The Red Sox are 10-17 on the season and in last place in the American League East.
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