Brian Patrick Abraham (born December 20, 1984) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

front-office executive and former

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

. He was appointed assistant director of player development by the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

in November 2014. He was then promoted to Director, Minor League Operations in November 2018 and promoted to Director, Player Development in December 2020 - the position he currently holds. In the summer of 2024, Abraham was kinged champion of the Framingham little league coaches Home Run derby.

Early life, education, & personal

Born and raised in

Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is a city and county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, the city's population was 206,518 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the second-List of cities i ...

, Abraham attended St. John's High School in

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...

and the

College of the Holy Cross The College of the Holy Cross is a private, Jesuit liberal arts college in Worcester, Massachusetts, about 40 miles (64 km) west of Boston. Founded in 1843, Holy Cross is the oldest Catholic college in New England and one of the oldest ...

, where he served as the

catcher Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...

for the

Holy Cross Crusaders The Holy Cross Crusaders are the athletic teams representing the College of the Holy Cross. They primarily compete in NCAA Division I as members of the Patriot League. In ice hockey, a sport not sponsored by the Patriot League for either sex, th ...

during his first three years in college. He considered going to law school when he finished up at Holy Cross, as his father, Stephen Abraham, is a lawyer. When he was a junior, Abraham had a commercial real estate internship and lived in the nearby town of Lexington. He then received an offer to play professional baseball in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, but the

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

of the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

at the time,

J. P. Ricciardi John Paul Ricciardi (born September 26, 1959) is a Major League Baseball executive currently serving as a special advisor to the president of baseball operations with the San Francisco Giants. He previously served as the general manager of the Tor ...

, made him a substantial offer to join them. Ricciardi grew up with Abraham's family, while Brian's uncle, Dave Abraham, was a long time trainer with the Blue Jays. In April 2022, Abraham completed the Boston Marathon running the marathon for Why Not Devin, in memory of Devin Suau, a 6-year-old Framingham boy who died in 2017 of diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG), a rare, inoperable brain tumor.

Career

Abraham joined the Blue Jays in 2007, working for them as advance scouting and video coordinator through the 2012 season. In between, Abraham handled the pitching duties for Toronto's slugger

José Bautista José Antonio Bautista Santos (born October 19, 1980), nicknamed "Joey Bats", is a Dominican special advisor for the general manager of the Leones del Escogido and former professional baseball right fielder and third baseman. He played in Majo ...

in the 2012 MLB Home Run Derby. Before the 2013 season, Abraham made the jump from Toronto to Boston along with manager John Farrell and coach

Brian Butterfield Brian James Butterfield (born March 9, 1958) is an American professional baseball coach, and a former minor league player, manager and infield instructor. He has coached for the New York Yankees, Arizona Diamondbacks, Toronto Blue Jays, Bosto ...

. His job often involved handling scouting reports for the Red Sox relievers. But he also had broader responsibilities as part of a joint process between himself, bullpen coach

Dana LeVangie Dana Alan LeVangie (born August 11, 1969) is an American professional baseball scout and coach, who was the pitching coach for the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB) in and . Formerly a scout and minor league catcher, as an active pla ...

, third base coach and infield instructor Butterfield and the whole staff. He earned his first

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

ring when Boston won the 2013 Championship. Abraham was the Red Sox' MLB

bullpen catcher The bullpen catcher is a member of a baseball team's staff, often a former professional player, who catches the ball for relief pitchers warming up before entering a game and starting pitchers before games. A bullpen catcher differentiates from a ...

during the 2013–2014 seasons. He threw batting practice and assisted the

coaching staff The coaching staff is a group of non-athletes tied to a sports team. A coaching staff can be existent at all levels of athletics. It is led by a head coach (known as a manager or senior coach in some sports) and consists of one or more assistant c ...

with video and statistical reports, focusing his interest on the

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue (medical), fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection (sports), ejection, or for other strategic ...

s. In 2015, he began assisting Boston's director of player development, Ben Crockett. Following the 2018 season, he continued assisting Crockett, but was promoted to Director, Minor League Operations. After Chaim Bloom's arrival, in December 2020, Abraham was promoted to Director, Player Development, overseeing the Boston Red Sox Minor League system. He remains in that role today.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abraham, Brian 1984 births Boston Red Sox coaches Baseball catchers Holy Cross Crusaders baseball players Living people Toronto Blue Jays scouts Baseball players from Worcester, Massachusetts College of the Holy Cross alumni