Red Sox hire former Cubs hitting coach Anthony Iapoce as senior hitting coordinator

The Red Sox have hired Anthony Iapoce as minor-league senior hitting coordinator, the club announced on Thursday.

Iapoce, 48, joins the Red Sox organization after spending the last six seasons as a major-league hitting coach with the Chicago Cubs (2019-2021) and Texas Rangers (2016-2018).

Under Iapoce, the Cubs ranked sixth in the National League in runs scored (1,784), seventh in RBIs (1,703), and eighth in team wRC+ (95) over the last three seasons. His contract was not renewed by Chicago last fall.

A native of New York, Iapoce was originally selected by the Brewers in the 33rd round of the 1994 amateur draft out of Lamar University (Beaumont, Texas). The right-handed hitting outfielder spent seven years in Milwaukee’s farm system.

After not playing affiliated ball in 2001, Iapoce joined the Marlins organization in 2002 and spent the entirety of the year with the Double-A Portland Sea Dogs, who were not yet affiliated with the Red Sox.

Iapoce made it back to Triple-A in 2003, but closed out his playing career with the Gary SouthShore Railcats of the independent Northern League before hanging up his cleats in 2005.

Since his playing days came to an end, Iapoce has served as a hitting coach with the Marlins and a hitting coordinator with the Blue Jays. From 2013-2015, he served as a special assistant to the general manager with the Cubs and oversaw the club’s minor-league hitting program during his first stint there.

As senior hitting coordinator for the Red Sox, Iapoce will work alongside Lance Zawadzki and Reed Gragnani, both of whom were formally promoted to the role of hitting coordinator on Thursday.

Zawadszki, 36, has been coaching within the Red Sox organization since 2018. The Framingham native has spent the last two seasons as Double-A Portland’s hitting coach.

Gragnani, 31, played four seasons in Boston’s farm system (2013-2016) before transitioning to a coaching role in 2017. The Virginia native served as the club’s Mid-Atlantic area scout from 2018-2019 and spent the last two years as an assistant hitting coordinator.

(Picture of Anthony Iapoce: USA TODAY)