PITTSBURGH (AP) — Ben Cherington believes the Pittsburgh Pirates are getting better, they're just not doing it fast enough. The general manager hopes a coaching shakeup can help speed up the process.
While manager Derek Shelton will return in 2025, hitting coach Andy Haines and bullpen coach Justin Meccage will not. The team dismissed both on Wednesday, three days after the Pirates finished 76-86 for a second straight season despite the arrival of rookie ace Paul Skenes.
“What I believe we need to do is develop just more cohesion, tighter alignment, tighter connection inside our major league group so that work that goes towards getting players better faster is happening better and faster all the time,” Cherington said.
Pittsburgh was 55-52 at the trade deadline before a 21-34 freefall through the final two months dropped the Pirates to last in the NL Central for the third time in the five years since Cherington took over in late 2019.
The team has yet to finish higher than fourth during Cherington's tenure. There was optimism after a strong start that was then buoyed by Skenes' arrival in mid-May. The hard-throwing right-hander put together one of the best rookie seasons by a pitcher in recent memory — going 11-3 with a 1.96 ERA in 23 starts while starting the All-Star Game and electrifying the team's fan base — but Pittsburgh's season came undone by failures around him, most noticeably at the plate.
The Pirates finished in the bottom third in the majors in batting average, runs, home runs and on-base percentage in 2024, much as they did in the previous two years with Haines running the hitting program.
Cherington said the coaching staff needs to continue helping hitters develop once they get to the major leagues.
While Pittsburgh's system is loaded with starting pitching talent — from Skenes to Jared Jones to prospects Bubba Chandler and Braxton Ashcraft — the position player group is thin.
It hasn't helped that homegrown talent like 2021 overall No. 1 pick Henry Davis has struggled to find his footing as a big leaguer. Davis hit just .144 in 37 games during a season in which he battled concussions and made multiple trips to the minors. Third baseman Ke'Bryan Hayes played just 96 games and hit a career-low .233 while dealing with a back problem that forced him to miss the last six weeks of the season.
Cherington hinted the Pirates may lean toward using some of that quality pitching depth to trade for an experienced bat that can help the team sooner rather than later. Pittsburgh has several question marks, particularly at first base, heading into 2025. Cherington downplayed the idea that left fielder Bryan Reynolds would make the move to first next season.
“At some point in the future if it gave us a better chance to win, would (Reynolds) do something else? I’m sure he would,” Cherington said. "But we haven’t gotten into that with him.”
The team also is hoping to have designated hitter and franchise icon Andrew McCutchen return in 2025. McCutchen hit 20 homers this season for the ninth time in his career and has said repeatedly he would prefer to end his career in his adopted hometown.
Pittsburgh is also hopeful two-time All-Star closer David Bednar will bounce back next season. Bednar lost his job down the stretch to Aroldis Chapman, and setup man Colin Holderman endured a rocky August in which he was tagged with three losses. Pittsburgh blew 29 save opportunities this season, trailing only the Boston Red Sox and the 121-loss Chicago White Sox.
Those issues were among the reasons the team dismissed Meccage. Shelton, however, will be given a sixth season to see if he can help the team complete the top-down overhaul it began when was hired in November 2019.
“I believe (Shelton) understands the team needs to ultimately respond to him and we’ll go into 2025 together, accountable together,” he said. "I’m excited for that. I’m excited for the work ahead.”
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