Sauveur reflects on successful tenure as pitching coach

Despite being twice their age, Rich Sauveur has a lot in common with the numerous Triple-A pitchers who were entrusted to his care during his successful seven-year run as pitching coach for the Pawtucket Red Sox.

The 50-year-old hoped - make that yearned - for a job at the big-league level.

Alas, Sauveur's pursuit of his dream gig is not going to happen in Boston, hence why he resigned following the conclusion of the PawSox' playoff run. Sauveur is leaving to pursue his career in another organization, closing a chapter without bitterness or resentment, but the realization that it was simply time for a change.      

Sauveur leaves a body of work that figures to bode well in future endeavors. The staff under his tutelage boasted two International League Most Valuable Pitchers (Charlie Zink in 2008, Anthony Ranaudo in 2014), and the 2010 edition marked the only time that the staff produced a collective ERA north of four. Sauveur leaves McCoy Stadium with a résumé that should open plenty of doors.

Reached earlier this week from his Florida address, Sauveur said there's very much a part of him that wishes he could stay with the Red Sox. Climbing that final rung with the organization would have placed him in the same category as the Ranuados of the world, but it turns out that the stars were not aligned for such a soft landing.

"(The Red Sox) gave me their reasons and I understood them 100 percent. They wanted someone with experience at the major-league level," Sauveur said. " There comes a time when you have to make a decision and I thought it was time."

Juan Nieves became the fifth different Red Sox pitching coach during Sauveur's tenure with the PawSox. According to Sauveur, he was never granted an interview by Boston, a move that in some circles seemed curious considering the strong working relationships he had cultivated with just about every arm the Red Sox relied upon.

The reasons why the Red Sox chose to look in every other direction except Sauveur's were only articulated to him around the All-Star break after he informed team personnel that a fresh start was probably for the best.  

"After seven years, I just felt that maybe I'll go somewhere else and start over," he said. "It was very tough because if I wanted to be a Triple-A pitching coach, I think I would have the best job in baseball. The Red Sox are a very good organization, probably the best one I've ever been a part of. Even the PawSox … those people became family. The hardest part was probably leaving those guys."

"You can't please everyone, but maybe if I could have gotten an interview here or there, at least I knew they were thinking about me," Sauveur continued. "I guess that helped make my decision. The Red Sox didn't do anything wrong, but all the stuff I learned came out when I announced that I was going to leave and asked why I didn't get that token interview."  

From John Farrell to Nieves and everyone in between, Sauveur says he enjoyed a strong and productive working arrangement with Boston's pitching coaches. The now-former overseer of Pawtucket pitchers shared how he warmed up to Nieves after initially struggling with the idea that he had once again been passed over.

"Juan gets along with everyone and he's the right guy for the job, there's no doubt about it," Sauveur said. "He's gained a friend and we're going to stay in touch. If I ever do get a major-league job, he's going to get phone calls from me."

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Sauveur was asked if his core beliefs on how to run a Triple-A staff matched up with the Red Sox' philosophy.

"Very, very close. I see myself as an easy-going person and I think the guys in Pawtucket did a great job with what I wanted. I thought I worked very well with the catchers as far as game planning, which is very important. You want to trust the catchers with your pitchers," said Sauveur. "Our game-plans were very simple and they have to be because if you get into very deep details, it's sensory overload for the pitcher in what he's trying to accomplish. We would ask, 'Do we attack the hitter with fastballs or pitch him backwards?'

"As a pitching coach in the minor leagues, you pretty much follow the rules laid out by the pitching coordinator and farm director and even people above like the major-league pitching coach. They talk about what to do with guys once they get to a certain level," said Sauveur about the chain of command that he followed. "If I wanted to introduce something, I would ask, 'Hey, I think we should do this.' But it was their decision and that's the way it should be."  

Understandably, Sauveur had a template for each PawSox pitcher. Whether it was mechanical adjustments or delving into the mental side, each one of Sauveur's charges was on his own program.

"I had to learn how to approach the changes of direction that the Triple-A level can present because each individual is different. There are guys on the verge of making the big leagues and guys who have been in the bigs and sent down," Sauveur said. "With a guy like (reliever) Alex Wilson, I could say whatever I wanted to him and he could handle the truth. Those are the easiest guys to deal with. With the guys who get upset about not accomplishing what they wanted to do in a certain amount of time, you have to know what road to take. Do you back off a little bit?"

There were plenty of highs and accompanying lows during Sauveur's stay with the PawSox. Getting Zink, who like Sauveur during his playing days was a practitioner of the knuckleball, to post career bests in ERA and wins in 2008 immediately jumps out. Zink came into that season with a 4.34 career ERA in seven minor-league seasons. That year saw him go 14-6 and post a 2.84 ERA.

In 2011, Sauveur opened the vault and took a warm-up routine that agreed with Clay Buchholz and passed it on to Andrew Miller. Along with implementing a few slight tweaks in Miller's delivery, Sauveur was able to get the talented yet at the time wildly inconsistent left-hander on the right path. Nowadays, Miller is seen as one of the premier lefty relievers in the American League.

"We noticed that when Andrew pitched out of the windup that he was getting too much upper body rotation. It was suggested that he start off in the stretch and that's when his command improved 100 percent," said Sauveur. "We knew he could pitch. It was just a matter of putting it all together."

Arguably, Sauveur's finest hour came in 2009. Buchholz was pitching lights out in Triple A, yet had to contend with roadblocks in his quest to rejoin Boston's rotation. (Remember John Smoltz and Brad Penny?)

"I had to figure out how to keep Buchholz happy in Triple A when he's already pitched a no-hitter in the big leagues and dominating hitters down here, but there's no room for him," Sauveur recalled. "How do you keep a guy sane and performing at the level he was?"

Over the course of his stay with the PawSox, Sauveur saw a substantial shift in the makeup of a Triple-A staff. When Sauveur started out, the rotation consisted of respected former major leaguers such as Bartolo Colon and non-prospects like Zink, David Pauley and Devern Hansack. This season represented a sharp contrast with Pawtucket featuring a host of 20-somethings that the Red Sox are betting can become reliable contributors moving forward.     

"From being around Ranaudo, Henry Owens, Brandon Workman and Matt Barnes in spring training these past few years and hearing what they're doing in Single A and Double A, I've watched them grow," Sauveur said. "I loved having the Colons and Hansacks because they made my job easier. They knew what they had to do. The young kids are where I needed to make my money."

Said Owens, "Rich didn't change anything I did. He just told me to stay consistent. Even if I struggled or did well, he would remind me that I'm human. I thought that was a good tidbit to take away."