Juan Nieves Fired as Red Sox Pitching Coach: Latest Details, Comments, Reaction

The Boston Red Sox parted ways with pitching coach Juan Nieves on Thursday, just 28 games into the 2015 season.   

According to the Red Sox's official Twitter account, Nieves was relieved of his duties:

On Saturday, the team named Carl Willis the new pitching coach, who will join the Red Sox for Sunday's game against the Toronto Blue Jays. Boston's official Twitter account added more details on Willis' experience:

The Red Sox hired Nieves as pitching coach in November 2012, and he won a World Series in his first season with the team, as the starting rotation posted the fourth-lowest ERA (3.84) in the American League. 

In 2014, the Red Sox had a team ERA of 4.36, which was 26th in baseball. This year, with a new staff featuring Rick Porcello and Wade Miley, Boston has the second-worst ERA in the majors (5.54), ahead of only Colorado. 

Tom Joyce of Yawkey Way Report noted Nieves' dismissal shows the Red Sox aren't going to wait around for things to get better after a disappointing 71-91 finish last season:

Nieves was put in a no-win situation as the Red Sox worked to rebuild their pitching staff on the fly. The front office traded Jon Lester last summer, was unable to re-sign him or add any top-tier starters to the rotation over the winter and opted to go for depth with the likes of Porcello, Miley and Justin Masterson to back up Clay Buchholz and Joe Kelly. 

Boston is currently in last place in the AL East with a 13-15 record. The offense has been solid with the additions of Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval, ranking eighth in runs scored, but the overall lack of impact arms has put this team in a hole early this season that it hopes to get out of quickly. 

Stats via ESPN.com.