As people around baseball tried to make sense of the whirlwind that swept through the Red Sox and the many interim coaches who were rushed to the big leagues, one promotion garnered joy throughout the game.
The addition of 53-year-old Nelson Paulino — known as “Pepe” — as an interim hitting coach represented cause for celebration.
“He’s the man,” said Red Sox second baseman Marcelo Mayer, who worked with Paulino in 2022 in Salem and 2023 in Greenville. “I’m super happy for him.”
Plenty of people shared that sentiment. Paulino, a native of the Dominican Republic who played as an infielder in Atlanta’s minor league system in the early ’90s, has been a scout and coach in the Red Sox organization since 1998. But in his 29 seasons (the first 14 in the Dominican, the last 15 in the States), he’d never worked above High-A. Nor had he chased such an opportunity.
Read more from Alex Speier at BostonGlobe.com/Sports. | 
