Kyle Boddy, hired as the Cincinnati Reds’ minor-league pitching coordinator after the 2019 season, has parted ways with the organization after two seasons.
Boddy, who was promoted to Director of Pitching last winter, announced the move on his Twitter account Friday. He oversaw the creation and implementation of organizational pitching philosophies.
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“The Cincinnati Reds and I have mutually agreed to no longer continue our professional relationship,” Boddy wrote in a statement. “I can’t thank Dick Williams and Eric Lee enough for their support and taking a chance at moving the Reds’ player development in a new direction – both were instrumental in effecting enormous change.
“(Reds pitching coach) Derek Johnson lent incredible support over the last two years with the Reds and for a decade prior to that – without DJ, much of the change you see in the world of pitching would have been unattainable.”
Minor-league hitting coordinator C.J. Gillman, hired in Nov. 2019 out of Air Force, announced Friday he was no longer in the organization too. He drove Jesse Winker to from Memphis to Cincinnati on Thursday when Winker completed his rehab assignment.
"With the direction and leadership in-place when I was hired having moved on, it's just simply the right direction for me to go personally and for the Reds to go professionally," Gillman wrote. "I believe deeply in what we accomplished in the time I spent with the Reds. Were we committed to change, the numbers stand up on their own, and I am very proud of that.
"There are many organizations with hitting and (player development) beliefs similar to my own and their fruits are coming to bear at both the minor and major league levels."
Boddy, the founder of Driveline, was an unconventional hire in Oct. 2019. He had previously spent time as a consultant for teams, but this was his first full-time role in an organization. Most of his first year with the Reds was working remotely with pitchers after the minor league season was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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The Reds embraced many of the newest technologies as Boddy joined the organization, including Edgertronic slow-motion cameras and Rapsodo pitch-tracking devices. Weighted balls were more prevalent for pitchers as they warmed up. Driveline, a data-driven facility, was an early adapter to many of the technologies that are now common in the sport.
It’s been a positive year for the Reds’ minor-league system, especially for some of their pitching prospects like Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo and Graham Ashcraft.
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“The Reds are moving in a different direction in many areas of player development and I certainly wish them the best,” Boddy wrote. “It no longer felt like the best fit for either party. I’m exceptionally proud of the results we got in the minor leagues – our MiLB pitchers as a group went from sixth-worst to sixth-best in xERA (expected ERA) out of 30 organizations in just two years – with a number of notable prospects doing well and popping up on radars everywhere.”
Boddy’s contract was set to expire at the end of the instructional league camp in October. The Athletic reported he met with the Texas Rangers and New York Mets this summer about potential positions in their organizations.
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Two of the people Boddy mentioned in his statement are no longer in the organization. Dick Williams resigned as the president of baseball operations at the end of the 2020 season. Eric Lee, who was the Reds’ senior director of player development, became the athletic director at Green Farms Academy (Connecticut) in July.
“We appreciate his contributions to the organization,” Reds general manager Nick Krall said Friday.
