The Pirates continued their trend of filling their major league coaching staff with people who worked in player development Friday, hiring Tarrik Brock as their first base coach.
General manager Ben Cherington made the announcement.
Brock, who will turn 46 on Dec. 25, has spent the past three seasons as the minor league outfield and baserunning coordinator for the Dodgers.
He was first base coach for the Padres in 2016, the Astros in 2014 and the Marlins in 2010. He was the Marlins outfield and baserunning coordinator from 2007-2013.
Brock's last stop as a major league coach was with the Padres from 2015-2016, where he was an outfield and baserunning coordinator as well. In 2014, the Padres had a team BsR, Fangraphs.com's measure for baserunning runs, of -6.2. In 2016, the Padres had a team BsR of 24.8, which was the best in baseball.
Since 2000, the 2016 Padres ranked as the second best baserunning team in baseball. The 2010 Marlins, another team Brock coached first and oversaw team baserunning for, ranked fifth best.
Brock joins bench coach Don Kelly and pitching coach Oscar Marin as new members to the MLB coaching staff that have worked in player development recently. Kelly was a scout in 2018 and an assistant on the Tigers' player development staff in 2017, and Marin was the Mariners minor league pitching coordinator from 2017-2018.
Brock is replacing Kimera Bartee, who was the Pirates' first base coach for three seasons. He also oversaw the team's outfield and baserunning efforts. Last season, the Pirates stole 64 bases compared to 29 caught stealings (68.8%) and had a team BsR of -4.6. The Pirates were graded as a poor baserunning team in Bartee's three seasons with the team.
