The bad and the ugly. That’s it. Nothing good about it.
The yearly review of the Pittsburgh Pirates position groups continues with the team’s coaching staff, of which several moves were made following the season’s end but maybe not nearly enough.
Manager Derek Shelton
What can be said that hasn’t already been said about Derek Shelton? Given perhaps the longest leash in the history of professional sports, Shelton once again underachieved and failed to build upon the work that was done last season. Finishing with an NL Central worst 76-86 record, ownership and GM Ben Cherington surprisingly decided that bringing Shelton back would be in the best interest of the club and that he can help lead the team towards winning in 2025. If any other coach had a 294-414 record over five seasons, they’d have been fired.
Hitting Coach Andy Haines
Andy Haines was one of the several moves that the Pirates made a couple of weeks ago to shake up the coaching staff. Letting Haines go was one of the smartest things I’ve ever seen the Pirates make, and I couldn’t be happier. In three seasons, he has failed to make an impact on the player that require it most. The athletic primes of players like Oneil Cruz, Ke’Bryan Hayes, Jack Suwinski, and Henry Davis have suffered for having Haines been their coach. HOPEFULLY the team can find a competent replacement to try and get the lineup back on track. Pittsburgh ranked in the bottom third of the Majors in most offensive categories this year.
Bullpen Coach Justin Meccage
The other change within the coaching staff was the firing of Justin Meccage. The bullpen was viewed as a strong area within the team heading into the season, but as the season wore on it was clear that the unit was mismanaged and underwhelming. All-Star closer David Bednar was a shell of his former self, posting a 3-8 record with a 5.77 ERA, and blowing seven saves. The squad was regularly losing leads late in games, and as a whole did not live up to expectations. The bullpen as a whole posted a 4.49 ERA, and had 27 blown saves. Meccage was the last member of the coaching staff from the Clint Hurdle era.
Assistant Hitting Coach Christian Marrero
Being that Christian Marrero was not let go with Haines, it would be reasonable to expect that he sticks with the team and serves as the hitting coach moving forward. Unproven as a hitting coach at the major league level, I’d like to see the team go out and get the best hitting coach money can buy given the abysmal situation with the team’s offense.
Bench Coach Don Kelly
Overall I’m not a huge fan of this coaching staff, but I do recognize that Don Kelly has a ton of insight. Though largely unproven as a coach at the Major League level, his experience as a player is super valuable. I think if Derek Shelton is going to succeed in 2025, Kelly needs to be in his ear as much as possible. As far as strategy and lineups are concerned, few know how to plan for every position quite like Kelly.
Disappointing is how I’d describe the Pirates coaching staff. Another year has come and gone, with little to no improvement. The Pirates making some changes to their staff is at least encouraging, as hopefully they can find replacements that will help take the team to the next level.