BOSTON — Rick Porcello figured the Red Sox pitching staff would be in good hands once Dana LeVangie was elevated from bullpen coach to pitching coach. It took one phone call to prove it.

Tim Britton

BOSTON — Rick Porcello figured the Red Sox pitching staff would be in good hands once Dana LeVangie was elevated from bullpen coach to pitching coach. It took one phone call to prove it.

"A couple of days after he got the pitching coach job, he called me and we talked for an hour on things he had mapped out for me coming into the season that I need to work on and get better with," Porcello said last week at the team's winter weekend at Foxwoods. "As a player, to see your pitching coach spend that much time at that time of year and have something prepared for you, it gives me chills just thinking about it because that’s how much he cares and that’s how much he works."

There isn't much these days that generates universal praise. The greatness of Tom Brady or the Golden State Warriors remain, somehow, debatable; every trade or signing is met with an "on the other hand."

For the Red Sox, though, the promotion of LeVangie was an unqualified good, inspiring plaudits from every part of the pitching staff — and even into the past.

"Believe it or not, Dana has a lot more experience when it comes to recognizing what pitchers do," said Pedro Martinez, for whom LeVangie was a bullpen catcher during his Boston days. "He's been working with them closer probably than anybody, because he's the one that sits down with them in the bullpen. He's the one that goes and catches or talks all the mechanics. He's the one on the floor looking out for those guys. So I trust him to do well."

"He's about as good as they get when it comes to the knowledge of pitching," Chris Sale said. "He's definitely the right guy for the right spot. He's so far ahead of where we are right now. He's got everything mapped out and he works really hard, so it's nice having a guy like that leading the pack."

LeVangie's role with the Red Sox exceeded that of a conventional bullpen coach. Almost any adjustment made by a Boston pitcher in recent years came with a level of input from LeVangie. He's the one who suggested that Drew Pomeranz switch sides of the rubber — right before Pomeranz submitted the best prolonged stretch of his career. He's the one who was on top of Craig Kimbrel all last season, making sure he kept his mechanics in order. He's the one who back in 2016 helped straighten out Clay Buchholz during his stints in the bullpen.

In fact, if there's one caveat to LeVangie's promotion, one complaint emerging from Boston pitchers, it's this one, from Kimbrel: "I'm going to miss hanging out with him in the bullpen."

"He has a game plan every day and understands each guy," Kimbrel continued. "As a pitching coach, that’s the number one thing: understanding everyone has something different and how to work with that."

"He’s always had so much input that’s been behind the scenes," said Joe Kelly. "He’s helped me so much mechanically breaking it down to the basics: 'Hey, this is what you need to do to be successful.' If I got off mechanically, Dana was the first one to point it out."

LeVangie's route to pitching coach is far from ordinary. The Massachusetts native has spent the last 27 years in the Red Sox organization, first as a player, then as a bullpen catcher, scout and bullpen coach. His diverse experience means that he's quick not only to diagnose a problem with a pitcher's mechanics but also to prescribe a solution.

"My truest learning experiencing stemmed from working as a bullpen catcher with the Red Sox," LeVangie said back in November. "It allowed me to really lock in on mechanics, movement of the baseball, spin of the baseball, identifying specifics of a pitcher’s strengths and weaknesses and identifying more importantly what makes a pitcher have continued success."

As Porcello said, LeVangie is known for his work ethic and his willingness to do whatever whenever to help a player improve. Manager Alex Cora noticed that when he was a player for the Red Sox, and LeVangie was long a person he figured would be part of his coaching staff. (Back in 2015, when LeVangie was named interim bench coach alongside Torey Lovullo, Cora tweeted, "Dana belongs in the dugout, too much knowledge and pays attention to details.")

That’s why, on an almost entirely new coaching staff, LeVangie is a welcome returnee. Given that the Sox ranked second in the American League in staff ERA last season under Carl Willis and LeVangie, the approach doesn't require an overhaul.

"All of us as a staff are extremely excited to work with Dana," said Porcello. "He's really been behind a lot of our approaches the last two or three years, so I can't wait to work with him in the bullpen and be able to get one on one."