The Pirates Hitting Issues, Trump All Others

4-20-24 – By Gary Morgan – @garymo2007 on Twitter

I know, you could say this about any area of the team that isn’t performing but at the plate, this year, this group has to hit, there simply isn’t a plan B.

There is no Paul Skenes equivalent with a bat in his hand waiting to come up here and be the savior. They don’t have 3-4 guys that are good bets to produce, instead they have a couple interesting guys but that’s about all you can say.

No, this team has to hit, primarily the guys who are here.

We can get into the hitting coach and we can probably argue about whether it’s his fault or the hitters if you want, but the result is what matters. Or the lack thereof.

If you believe this team has some talented hitters who aren’t hitting, you probably blame the hitting coach. If you believe they don’t have talent you probably blame the hitters.

As usual, the answer is both. The hitting coach is just a hell of a lot easier to fire.

If you think I’ll solve this here in this article, head out to social media and emphatically state that Kenny Pickett sucked because of Matt Canada, see how settled it is, even as both are no longer part of the Steelers. Find out how Todd Reirden the Penguins assistant coach has turned one of the greatest players the game has ever seen into a mediocre Power Play performer.

Coaching gets blamed because Coaching is easier to replace, that’s the truth. It doesn’t mean it’s untrue that coaching contributes or even is completely responsible, but it is undeniably easier.

We could have all those conversations, but we’d be denying that this offense has looked pretty damn awful for the entire duration of Andy Haines time here in Pittsburgh.

The Pirates have no plan B on a lot of players, most teams are in that situation if we’re honest.

Oneil Cruz, Bryan Reynolds, and Ke’Bryan Hayes all have to hit.

There are others, but those 3 simply can’t be replaced on this roster, there is again, no plan B.

Say whoever you want is to blame, but at the very least a hitting coach should probably be good at keeping the most important players he has at his disposal from falling into funks at the same time. At least as routinely as it happens here.

Maybe all those players suck to begin with right? That’s gotta be it. I mean, it’s not like he’s coaching them to swing and miss right? LOL, my all time favorite comment, made only by people who assume you’re stupid enough to think it’s ever 100% on anyone.

Here’s the thing though, it is on everyone collectively.

Hitters, especially veteran hitters like Hayes and Reynolds, well, if they’re being coached to do things that don’t work, they need to own their own careers and push back. It’s not like the Pirates are going to cut them and eat their salary, even if they actually did have plan B’s sitting around.

Let’s pause here, because we keep having the Jon Nunnally story baked into this.

Who?

Oh, that’s the name of the AA hitting coach most of you think should be the hitting coach instead of being fired for helping Ke’Bryan Hayes.

Before I do this, understand, I like Jon Nunnally. Have spoken to him personally. Know for a fact he isn’t a fan of the overall hitting philosophy and that he tried to be a good soldier about it, but wanted more.

I agree with him. He wasn’t fired for helping Hayes, he was moved on from because it became clear he wasn’t instilling the principles this organization wants instilled. Hayes worked with up to 3 different hitting coaches last season outside of the MLB staff that I know of, could even be more. 2 of the ones I know about were members of the Pirates organization, 1 is now.

This is a story that has an awful lot of the stink of retribution baked in from the team to an employee, but in reality it was a lot more about not agreeing with or at least getting on board with the concept.

Again, good for Jon, good for Ke’, annoying that the team thinks they know what’s right despite evidence to the contrary, but bottom line, Nunally wasn’t fired for helping Ke’. He’s also unemployed, so it might be overselling it to pretend some white hot shooting star was cut loose.

Altoona had an OPS of .689 and a batting average of .236. They walked less than anyone in the Eastern League and it became very clear, the Curve were not hitting in the same style that was supposed to be franchise wide.

Not trying to make a case for Haines system being implemented, just pointing out it wasn’t at least not fully in AA. They also had several prospects flow through there and stall.

What Nunally was really good at was individual instruction. Hands on work that worked for several players.

Andy Haines works with his players individually, but he also administers the system for the entire franchise, from Pittsburgh to the Dominican Summer League guys. Imagine how much time he has to individually game plan, or mechanically work with individuals.

So you want to just dismiss everything and blame the players, fine, but this team has ignored now 2 plus years of ineptitude. There’s believing in something despite what you’re seeing, and that can have some value, but you better know when you’ve pushed it far enough and pivot.

Andy Haines system over time could work for some, but inevitably it will fail others. When you’re working in a business that typically makes 7 out of 10 prospects not pan out, it’s wise to not add extra reasons for failure, like being stubborn that everyone has to do things a certain way.

Do I think Andy Haines should be fired? Oh, only for like over 2 years now. Do I think players bear responsibility for their own careers and thus should take charge of their own success, of course.

More than anything, I know this team could have 3 Paul Skenes and 2 Jared Jones and not win with this offense.

They don’t have enough power to make this a successful approach. They don’t have enough flexibility to adapt to the pitchers they face game in and out. They don’t do enough to exploit the walks they do get when the system is working, because even with the bases loaded the approach calls for a deep at bat when contact would get the job done.

This franchise has failed to make the playoffs in all but 3 seasons since Bob Nutting took the reigns, and the most mystifying thing is how easily they convince themselves that something clearly not working is actually correct.

Here’s the thing though, if they go through 2024 and don’t hit the GM will either have to admit they’ve made a mistake with the hitting program or they’ve made a mistake with the players they acquired.

It’s still WAY easier to fire an assistant coach, so guess what this year will be, right, the last stand for Haines. It works or it doesn’t.

I’ve suggested they should bring in another hitting instructor to help guys, be another voice, trying to give benefit of doubt that Haines is pulled in too many directions. They just don’t see it as needed.

For those of you who want to dismiss this as just 20 games, and chill or whatever, I’m not basing my takes on Haines from 20 games, I’m basing them on his time in Milwaukee and here.

Bluntly, that would be more than enough for almost any franchise to do something different right?

Sure should be.

Until they hit, if they hit, nothing else matters. There is no problem worth discussing if they can’t score.