Pirates GM Ben Cherington: 'Unlikely' new hitting coach will be hired until after season

Ben Cherington said it’s “unlikely” that interviews for a new hitting coach will begin until after the conclusion of the season, though the Pittsburgh Pirates general manager has an idea of what he wants.

The Pirates fired hitting coach Rick Eckstein after three seasons on Aug. 30, when they ranked last in the majors in home runs, RBIs, runs scored, slugging percentage, OPS, OPS+ and batting average with runners in scoring position, as well as exit velocity and hard hit rate.

That doesn’t mean Cherington has ruled out internal candidates.

“The short answer is, I don’t know yet,” Cherington said Friday afternoon on a video conference call. “We’re working through the very early part of the process and the preliminary stages of sourcing and just really working on a framework of what we’re looking for. I really believe we have a number of people with the Pirates right now who are going to help us build a great hitting development program, so I have a lot of confidence in that. As we get towards the end of the season, we’ll determine what that candidate looks like. I would expect, at this point, that’s it’s unlikely interviews will start until the end of the season.”

Assistant hitting coach Christian Marrero and major league field coordinator Mike Rabelo — the team’s former assistant hitting coach — are working with Pirates players in the interim. The Pirates also have praised the work Jon Nunnally has done with hitters at Double-A Altoona in 2019 and with Triple-A Indianapolis this year.

When the Pirates fired Eckstein, manager Derek Shelton said the decision was based on the “the direction we want our hitting group to go in, not only at the major league level but organizationally.”

With the development of prospects being a focal point for the organization, Cherington emphasized the importance of how the Pirates teach hitting development and performance from the majors to the minors, including the club’s Dominican Republic academy.

“It’s important in how we’re assessing or training the actual movement of the swing itself or how we’re training or measuring the swing decision in a game but also what happens after those decisions,” Cherington said. “So those are all distinct and connected things and the way we’re going to work through those things is going to be a little bit different in Bradenton and (the Pirate City) complex than at the major league level, but there does need to be connectiveness across the group in terms of about how we’re thinking and teaching across all those levels.

“The major league hitting coach is an important part of that connection and critically important in leading us at the major league level in terms of how we’re teaching all those pieces of hitting. It doesn’t mean the major league hitting coach needs to be doing those things all himself. I think we’re seeing across the league, on both the pitching and hitting side, it’s really becoming a team effort and no longer one person. But you typically have a lead, and we think of it as a team and then have that leader at the major league level that teaches the way we desire to and what’s best for the players. But that connection has to happen the other way, too. There has to be the connection with the minor league people.”

Cherington said he would discuss the status of the rest of the major league coaching staff with manager Derek Shelton after the season, emphasizing the importance of having a chance to reflect on what went well and which areas require improvement.

When Shelton was hired in November 2019, he added to his staff Rabelo, bench coach Don Kelly, pitching coach Oscar Marin, first base coach Tarrik Brock and assistant Glenn Sherlock, who works with the catchers.

The lone holdovers from Clint Hurdle’s coaching staff are third base coach Joey Cora and bullpen coach Justin Meccage. Cora was hired after one season as Altoona’s manager. Meccage also was promoted from within, going from minor league pitching coordinator to assistant pitching coach to bullpen coach in the span of three years.

“This major league staff, this coaching staff, works their tails off. They’re always finding a way, looking for a way to get better,” Cherington said. “They care a lot about success with the Pirates. They care a lot about our players. I think that this group has led us to some good things already, in a relatively short amount of time with our players. I know they want to continue to get better. They’re fun to work with. I have a lot of belief in this group, and the potential of this group to help us continue to get better as an organization, as a team. But I also think it’s appropriate to spend some time after the season on that topic and really just look for ways to continue to improve.”