Reds throw change-up at pitching infrastructure
Published 12:55 am Wednesday, October 2, 2019
Rob Butcher
Cincinnati Reds’ VP Media Relations
CINCINNATI — Cincinnati Reds President of Baseball Operations Dick Williams today announced that Caleb Cotham has been promoted to Major League Assistant Pitching Coach and Director of Pitching.
Cotham, 31, last season was the Major League Assistant Pitching Coach for first-year manager David Bell. In this new role, Cotham will have increased involvement in the creation and implementation of the organization’s pitching philosophies and protocols.
In 2019 the Reds’ pitching staff led the National League with a franchise-record 1,552 strikeouts and ranked fourth in the NL with a team ERA of 4.18, its best since 2014 and almost half a run better than last season’s ERA of 4.63. In 1,438 innings last year the Reds allowed just 1,270 hits, the second-fewest of any team in the National League.
The Reds also announced that Kyle Boddy (pronounced BO-dee) has been named the organization’s Director of Pitching Initiatives/Pitching Coordinator. Boddy will work closely with the Major League pitching department to ensure the pitching philosophies and protocols are consistent throughout the organization.
Boddy, 36, is the president and founder of Driveline Baseball, located near Seattle in Kent, Washington, and will remain affiliated with that organization.
Boddy was born in Parma, Ohio and attended Baldwin-Wallace University. In 2012, he founded Driveline Baseball, where he coaches amateur and professional pitchers on ways to increase their velocity and improve their conditioning.
He has worked as a consultant and pre-draft analyst for Major League Baseball teams, including the Los Angeles Dodgers and Cleveland Indians, and as a consultant for college programs Vanderbilt, Oregon State and Coastal Carolina, which won the 2016 College World Series.