Brothers Rick, David Eckstein lean on each other to prop up Pirates' bats

David Eckstein was a 5-foot-7 shortstop who was drafted in the 19th round by the Boston Red Sox in 1997. Three years later, the Red Sox waived him.

World Series and All-Star Games didn’t appear to be in his future.

But big brother, Rick, never stopped believing, a stubborness that may serve him well as the Pittsburgh Pirates’ second-year hitting coach.

By 2002, David Eckstein had won a World Series with the Anaheim Angels. In 2006, he was World Series MVP with the St. Louis Cardinals, collecting three doubles in Game 4 and two singles and two RBIs in the decisive Game 5.

When Jim Leyland’s Detroit Tigers lost that ‘06 World Series to Eckstein and the Cardinals, he called him, “a cute, little kid.”

It was a compliment.

Rick Eckstein looks back proudly on those days. Just as important, they helped build the foundation for his own career as a major-league coach and, perhaps, will help him get the most from Pirates hitters.

“I was his coach,” Rick Eckstein said of his brother, a walk-on who turned into a two-time All-American at the University of Florida, played 10 years in the majors, recorded 1,414 hits and a .280 lifetime batting average and was named to two All-Star Games.

“I was the guy that would throw him (batting practice) and work with him.

“We would talk and I would say, `The good Lord is preparing me to be a Major League coach.’ I was exposed to things because of where he was. He exposed me to a lot, and it gave me the opportunity to intimately dive deep into not only his career, but also what he was capable of doing.

“Nobody really thought David Eckstein would ever achieve what he was destined to achieve on the field. I did. I did.”

David Eckstein played through the 2010 season, and worked with the Angels and Arizona Diamondbacks before joining the Pirates last year as a special assistant in the operations department. Rick is now leaning on David.

“His lens into baseball is very different than mine. I never played on the field in the big leagues,” Rick said. “He gets to see things in ways that gives me information to make better decisions.”

With the brothers’ expertise and manager Derek Shelton’s 12 years as a major-league hitting coach, maybe Pirates hitters will benefit.

“I, personally, feel that is the hardest job in baseball,” Shelton said.

Rick Eckstein said a belief in his brother built a mindset that serves him well today.

“It’s like, once I see the skill set and I know that this is what they do really well, boy, if we can get that, we got a winning player. And that’s really what David brought out in me.”

The Pirates hit for a good average as a team last season, sharing the National League lead (.265) with the world champion Washington Nationals and Colorado Rockies. But they didn’t hit enough home runs (163, 14th in the NL), and now Starling Marte, who hit 23 of them, is gone.

Eckstein said he has seen improvement from Colin Moran and Gregory Polanco.

“They have really lit me up, if you will, for individual reasons,” he said. “The way the ball’s jumping off the bat, the way they’re carrying themselves, just tremendous.”

He’s also pleased with backup outfielder Guillermo Heredia, who hit .240 in four previous American League seasons.

“He’s doing things that I felt like he was capable of doing,” he said. “He’s really blossomed. He’s another guy I see great things happening for.”

The key to the Pirates’ offense, though, is All-Star first baseman Josh Bell, whose 2019 batting average fell from .301 on July 13 to .277 at the end of the season.

Eckstein said Bell did some “soul-searching” during the quarantine in an attempt to mitigate what Eckstein called “white noise.”

“A lot of players can get to the big leagues, but staying in the big leagues is more about understanding who you are and not letting distractions infiltrate your process,” Eckstein said.

“I think Josh, looking back, looked at some of that stuff. I think he looked at some of the things (and said), `When I was going good, this is where my mind was and this is what I was focused on and this was my approach and I didn’t really worry about this and this and this and this.’ “

NOTE: The Pirates sent pitchers Miguel Del Pozo and Geoff Hartlieb to their satellite camp in Altoona.