The Red Sox made one more stride toward assembling their 2012 cast on Friday, filling out the team's major league coaching staff.
The team has named Bob McClure the pitching coach, while adding Alex Ochoa as the first base coach. Tim Bogar, previously the team's third base coach, will now assume the role of bench coach, which was vacated by DeMarlo Hale earlier this offseason. Jerry Royster has been named the third base coach.
Ben Cherington and Bobby Valentine also announced that hitting coach Dave Magadan and bullpen coach Gary Tuck will both return in the same roles they held in 2011.
McClure spent the last season as the pitching coach for the Kansas City Royals. He helped Zack Greinke earn AL Cy Young honors in 2009, and his 2011 Royals staff compiled a 4.44 ERA, which was the best single-season mark for the club since 1994. McClure joined the Red Sox organization in November as special assignment scout and minor league instructor.
Ochoa, 39, was the hitting coach for Boston's High-A Salem affiliate last season. His hitters led the Carolina League in on-base percentage (.328), and finished third in average (.254) and slugging (.387).
The 59-year-old Royster brings 40-plus years of baseball experience to his position. He most recently managed the Lotte Giants of the Korea Baseball Organization from 2008-10. He was that league's first foreign manager.
Bogar enters his fourth year in the Red Sox organization. The 45-year-old even played under Valentine with the New York Mets for part of the 1996 season.
