When the Pirates parted ways with hitting coach Rick Eckstein in August, manager Derek Shelton and general manager Ben Cherington discussed establishing a new hitting program moving forward.
The need for improvement is obvious. The Pirates finished last in a wide variety of key offensive categories, including runs (609), home runs (124), slugging percentage (.364) and batting average with runners in scoring position (.220). After three years of Eckstein at the helm, that necessitated a change in leadership.
Shelton and Cherington did not want to start the process of finding a new coach until after the season was complete. Now two days removed from the finale, Cherington offered some insight on what they are looking for in a new coach.
“We've got a very long list of names that we've been doing due diligence on and trying to learn about,” Cherington said during a Zoom call with local media Tuesday. “So much is just about fit. It's about finding someone who has a particular skill set, experience, strengths, that complements and adds to what's already here, and someone who is really a good cultural fit with our players and our staff. Someone who is interested in coming in and being a part of a team just to help players get better. That's what we'll be focused on.”
Cherington said he expects the interview process to begin in October.
“Haven't started yet, and not in a particular rush,” he said. “It's an important hire.”
The Pirates under the final month of the season without a hitting coach, with assistant coach Christian Marrero, bench coach Don Kelly, MLB coordinator Mike Rabelo, hitting coordinator Jonny Tucker and analyst Tim McKeithan all chipping in to fill those duties.
As for the rest of the major league coaching staff, Cherington said he and Shelton are still going through the evaluation process to decide who will be retained.
Marrero is on the hot seat by being the other half of the coaching tandem with Eckstein, though that doesn’t necessarily guarantee he will be dismissed. Kelly interviewed for managerial jobs in Detroit and Boston last winter, and given his track record as someone who has worked in player development and major league coaching, it would be reasonable to assume that he could draw some interest again as well.
However, given Cherington’s answer, it doesn’t sound like there will not be an overhaul of the major league staff.
“I know we both feel a high level of confidence in the group we have here,” Cherington said. “It's a fun group to work with. They care a lot. They're trying to get better all the time in all kinds of ways. It's a smart group, a curious group, passionate about players, helping players. So really excited about moving forward with this group.”
MORE FROM CHERINGTON
• Season two of Cherington's tenure as Pirates general manager is in the books. And like Shelton, he is optimistic about the direction the organization is going, even after just enduring a 101-loss season.
“We feel good about the progress we made as an organization this year,” Cherington said. “We believe there were significant steps taken in terms of overall depth of talent throughout the organization. We feel good about the continued progress we’ve made culturally at the major league level — the effort, defensive improvement, base running, attention to detail and the fight we saw throughout the year.
“We also played better as a team at the major league level down the stretch, despite trading a lot of good major league players off the team over the last two years. I think that makes us feel really good looking forward that the work that we’re doing is going in the right direction.”
• Cherington says that Ke'Bryan Hayes met with a wrist/hand specialist in Ohio Monday and will meet with another specialist when he returns home to Texas.
Hayes discovered at the end of the season that he had developed a cyst in his left hand between the second and third digits, which doctors believed contributed to him experiencing recurring wrist and hand soreness.
"Every piece of information we have right now leads to us being very optimistic his recovery, about this not being something that gets in the way of an offseason, certainly not into spring training or next year," Cherington said.
Cherington also speculated that Hayes' left wrist injury may have hurt him offensively this year. He definitely did drop off dramatically from his outstanding September in 2020, hitting only .257 with a .689 OPS. But Cherington appreciated Hayes' desire to go out there and try to help his teammates, even if he might not have been 100%.
"When the numbers look better, it will feel better for everyone," Cherington said.
• Amid a third straight last place finish, the Pirates did have at least one major bright spot this year in Bryan Reynolds, who started in the All-Star game and had a 6 WAR season.
Cherington was very complimentary all season of how he played the game and the example he set for younger players.
"You watch him, you watch the effort he plays the game with and you know that when someone like Rodolfo Castro comes up, or Oneil Cruz comes up, or Hoy Park comes up, they're watching a guy that is the best player on the team right now play the game a certain way. That's really encouraging. That's the start of that identity that you're talking about."
However, when asked if they would approach Reynolds for an extension, Cherington opted to answer in a wider sense, not about specifically Reynolds.
"As we get into the offseason, that’s a door that we want to open again. That’s not specific to any one player. We want to continue to have an open door to that conversation with players as they get to our major league roster... Our hope over time, yes, that we’ll find some of those opportunities to extend guys we believe in and represent the right things and we believe can be part of a winning team here for a long time. And want to be here for a long time."
• Cherington was asked by several different reporters in different ways about free agency and offseason spending. He would not answer the question directly, saying they haven't set budgets yet.
There are different ways to spend, even if it is an internal move like re-signing Yoshi Tsutsugo, who had a solid six week stretch to end the season. Cherington says they should start that conversation about potentially retaining him in the coming days.
But on a wider scale...
“We want to improve,” Cherington said. “We want to see steady growth, absolutely, from our team. We just have to be focused on specific player acquisitions that are consistent with what we believe gives us the best chance to not just get a winning team, but to sustain it over time.”
• One of the highlights of the end of the season were the promotions of Oneil Cruz and Roansy Conteras, two of the top prospects in the Pirates' system.
It was just a cup of coffee, and it comes after very minimal time with Class AAA Indianapolis. Cherington has said in the past that players who reach Indianapolis are not considered prospects as much anymore and are instead viewed as potential contributors to the major league team.
So is there any chance that those two could break camp next spring with the team?
"We’re not going to make a decision on Opening Day rosters right now, and we’ll take all the time we have to do that, but both of those guys are certainly in position to impact the team next year at some point. Time will tell when that is exactly."
• Speaking of Indianapolis, the Pirates parted ways with Indians manager Brian Esposito this week.
While there is no guarantee they would get the job, Class AA manager Miguel Pérez and Class High-A Greensboro manager Kieran Mattison are among those who could get consideration for the job.
"[We'll] first look internally to see if there's alternatives."
