Ben Cherington on Pirates’ offense, bullpen after coaching changes

PITTSBURGH — The Pirates confirmed Wednesday that they will not be retaining hitting coach Andy Haines nor bullpen coach Justin Meccage, two areas of the team that fell short of expectations in 2024 and contributed to the Pirates finishing with an identical record from the year prior: 76-86.

“We learned a lot this year,” said general manager Ben Cherington, explaining the decision. “… While we have made improvement in the way that players are improving at the Major League level and performing at the Major League level.

“We see evidence that we’re able to identify the things that we need to identify and coach players towards improvement. We also believe that we need to do that more, and faster. Ultimately, I decided that in order to do it better and faster, some changes were necessary.”

More from the general manager on the offense and pitching …

• Cherington expressed wanting to have more “cohesion” and “connection” on the hitting side, and that getting the hitters better is “the only place where energy’s going.”

That doesn’t necessarily mean that a change in philosophy is required.

“I just think we need to deliver in a more consistent, clarifying, simple way, and follow through all the way, and do that as consistently as we can,” Cherington said. “Ultimately, serve the hitters. The hitters go up there every night, and they got to do something that’s really hard. And, we want all of them to be in the clearest frame of mind possible when they’re doing it.”

• A huge wild card for this offense revolves around Ke’Bryan Hayes, who is going to be rehabbing and strengthening his back this offseason. Hayes was voted the team’s most valuable player by the local chapter of the BBWAA in 2023, but was limited to just 96 games with recurring back issues this season, finishing with a .233 batting average and .573 OPS.

Cherington said there’s always some level of concern until he gets back on the field, but expressed that he feels the team has more information on his back now and that Hayes is excited for 2025.

“We need him on the field. Period,” Cherington said. “We need him on the field, doing the things he’s capable of doing in order for us to be the team that we want to be next year. He knows that, he feels that and feels some form of responsibility for that. We gotta keep working to help him be that.”

• The Pirates came into this season projected to have one of the best bullpens in baseball. Instead, 27th in ERA (4.49) and tied for second-worst in blown saves (29).

If there is any source of optimism, though, it doesn’t have to be the same bullpen or results next year.

“A bullpen, especially if you’re starting with some core pieces coming back, which we think we are, tends to be an area that can improve quicker if we do our work well,” Cherington said. “We’ve got to do our work well. We’ve got to do our jobs, but I’m optimistic about that because of how bullpens can change so quickly from year to year.”

• David Bednar was at the center of the bullpen’s struggles for most of the year, but Cherington gave him a vote of confidence, saying that he thought “Bednar could be our closer next year.”

Bednar was removed from the closer role for the final month of the season as he trudged through a campaign where he finished with a 5.77 ERA and seven blown saves in his 30 chances. Injuries were a recurring theme for him all season — missing almost all of Spring Training and then a stint from mid-June to mid-July — and while Cherington didn’t know if that impacted his overall results, he believes the sample size of relievers can be small and skewed.

And after two All-Star nods in 2022 and 2023, Bednar certainly has earned some benefit of a doubt.

“The pitch qualities are there,” Cherington said. “He knows they’re there, which probably helps him feel good. It also probably frustrates him, given that he knows they’re there and he couldn’t solve this. It’s a tiny sample, and that’s really dangerous.

“I did feel like the last few outings of September were pretty encouraging from our perspective. He’s got some ideas on how to get after his offseason in a way that sets him up even better.”