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.