After making the decision to find a new hitting coach and a new leader for their hitting program last August, the Pirates’ search culminated in hiring Andy Haines for the position.
The team valued his willingness to collaborate and willingness to learn.
For Haines, a big part of the job’s appeal was the people he will be working alongside.
“I think initially, when I met with Ben [Cherington] and his group of guys and then that trickles down to Derek [Shelton] and the whole coaching staff, it’s an impressive group,” Haines said during a Zoom with local reporters Friday afternoon. “I think it’s easy initially to judge everything on the surface, but when you start seeing everything that’s happening below the surface and organization-wide and just the people in general, it’s easy to believe that some really good days are coming.”
Haines had some level of familiarity with the Pirates before the process, watching them from the other dugout as the Brewers hitting coach the past three seasons. The Pirates would go on to finish last in all three seasons, but under the last two with Shelton at the helm, Haines noticed how hard the team played late in the season despite their place in the standings.
“I think you judge staffs throughout the season on how their teams play late in the year,” Haines said. “You look up a team that lost 100 games or 101. They lost a lot of games. That’s tough. That’s challenging on people when that’s your life. To look across the field and see how that team played late, that was a big credit to that entire coaching staff, the environment, how they think. That starts with Derek. It’s not easy to walk in the door and your players are still excited to show up and compete. That was attractive to me. That stood out.”
In the Brewers’ dugout during those three years, Haines led an offense that emerged as one of the top power threats in 2019 before taking a step back during the shortened 2020 campaign. Last season was a mixed bag, finishing sixth in the National League in runs but in the bottom half in baseball in many important categories like OPS and strikeouts.
While several players did have breakout campaigns under his tutorship – like Luis Urias and Willy Adames – the up-and-down results and a quick playoff exit ultimately led to the Brewers firing him this winter. As expected, that move warranted some self-reflection.
“I experienced a little bit of everything,” Haines said. “I think there were so many positives. It was three, I call them eventful, seasons with successes and lots of great things. And there were some things that were struggles and challenges that I think we all experience. I think when you look at it, when you really hold yourself accountable and hold yourself to a high standard, it's easy to go to both extremes. It's easy to get defensive and say this isn't right. It's easy to beat yourself up and say, 'how'd this happen? It should have been better' when it doesn't happen. I think reality is always in the middle somewhere when you get a little bit past it.”
"When you sit down to get through it, the only option is you keep going to get better, man,” he added shortly after. “That's the reality of it."
A former hitting coach himself, Shelton understands there will be ups and downs with that job. It’s why he didn’t focus on the mixed bag of results with the Brewers and instead on what his previous experiences as a coach could bring to the staff.
“I think the big thing for us is his plan going forward, his work not only with major league hitters, but this guy has been a [hitting] coordinator,” Shelton said last month. “He’s managed in the minor leagues. That plays a large part when you become a major league hitting coach; there’s a lot of different factors. I really felt that when we interviewed Andy and we talked about hiring him, he fit in well with the rest of our hitting group with [assistant hitting coach] Christian [Marrero], [major league assistant] Timmy [McKeithan] and kinda moving forward that way. We really look to Andy to lead that group.”
Finding someone who could lead the whole hitting group was part of what the Pirates were looking for in their next coach. For a team that will rely on player development, such a role is vital, and Haines talked about more individualized coaching ideologies that has been at the core of the team’s revamped player development.
Haines’ main focus will of course be at the major-league level, but he will contribute or lend a hand to minor-league coaches and hitting coordinator Jonny Tucker.
That growth won’t stop at the minor-league level, either.
“Development never stops,” Haines said. “It's kind of a misnomer that you have the minor leagues and you [reach] the big leagues. No, man, it never stops. It has to continue.”
“You really have to see the game from the player's lens,” he continued. “It’s easy to see it the way we want it to look. But I think the best coaches and the most impactful people I'm around as mentors, they have a gift of seeing things (through) other people's eyes — where they want to go and how you help them get there.”
Due to the ongoing lockout, Haines was not able to comment on any players currently on the 40 man roster, but was able to offer his philosophies on individual player assessment. To him, there are two main points, the first being actual results, assuming of course the sample size is large enough.
The second is what Haines described as a more “holistic” approach that focuses on how they grow individually.
“Everyone learns a little differently,” he explained. “So when you tackle both of those [ideas], that kind of takes your opinion out of it and you can provide players with a lot of good information. So really about you start with this north star of ‘Who is this player? Who should he be at his best?’ And then you work backwards from there [to] help them get there. So some players, the name of the game is … people talk about exit velocity. Well, physics will tell you some players are not going to hit the ball as hard as other players. There are things we can measure but a line drive’s a pretty tried-and-true method. When they're hitting the ball on a line, it means they’re on time, staying in position to hit and the path is clean.”
If that happens by and large on an individual basis, it would turn around an offense that has stagnated the last two seasons.
“Team-wise, I want a lineup that we're all proud of, that’s relentless,” Haines said. “We don't take one pitch off or we're putting on a great show every night, we’re fun to watch and we can win in a multitude of ways, we can damage the baseball, stand in there and slug when we need to and when the game demands execution and some finer points of the game and maybe some more accuracy with a barrel we can do that also. That gives you a chance over 162.”
The Pirates are going to need to make some serious strides in order to form that relentless offense. Last season, they finished last in baseball in runs scored (609), slugging percentage (.364) and home runs (124). With the exception of Bryan Reynolds, there aren’t any players on the roster that have a long major-league track record of above average results. Impact hitters will have to mostly come through the farm system, and there are several prospects who should make the jump in 2022, including Oneil Cruz, Travis Swaggerty, Jack Suwinski, Canaan Smith-Njigba and Diego Castillo.
After spending most of the first two years of the new regime accumulating and developing prospects, next season should be the first year where there should be several noticeable top players making the jump to the majors. That could potentially start a turnaround for the franchise, which is exciting for Haines.
"I'll be the first to tell you that talk is cheap. It's a major league game and they're [the fans] paying for major league entertainment. It's a lot closer than they think of having a team they are really proud of."
