Pirates Hitting Coach Reveals Offensive Approach
The Pittsburgh Pirates will be leaning on one of their former players to help turn around one of the league's worst offenses last season.
The Pirates officially announced the hiring of former first baseman Matt Hague as their new hitting coach. Pittsburgh drafted Hague in the ninth round of the 2008 MLB Draft and he spent parts of two seasons (2012 and 2014) in the big leagues with them. He played his last season in the big leagues in 2015 with the Toronto Blue Jays, who he came up the coaching ranks with.
Hague, 39, was the Blue Jays' assistant hitting coach last season and was the hitting coach across Double-A and Triple-A from 2021 to 2023. With him now leading the show in Pittsburgh, Hague noted the importance of using the resources available to get information to players in a way that's easy for them to process and how that approach helped him in Toronto.
"The hitting world can be a little chaotic at times with how much information is being put out in the world and being able to digest that," Hague said. "I think using all the resources, objective resources, experiences [and[ player experiences to ultimately tell a story to a player in your words or trying to tell a story in a simple form [and] in their simple hitting language. They have to feel that the source of that story is very well thought out. It is a complex source, but you're filtering it simply into their hitter's language. With the Blue Jays and all the resources that were available, you were [able to] really unpack that complex source and able to understand what goes into the story for that individual player."
The Pirates were among the league's worst hitting teams last season, ranking 23rd in batting average, 24th in runs, 25th in home runs, 26th in on-base percentage and 27th in slugging percentage. Toronto fared slightly better, though injuries played a big role in its regression at the plate. The Blue Jays were 13th in on-base percentage, 19th in batting average, 20th in slugging percentage, 23rd in runs and 26th in home runs.
Pirates manager Derek Shelton noted how Hague is viewed highly around the league and by the players he previously coached.
“We’re very excited to add Matt to our group as he adds a blend of both playing and coaching experience combined with really strong relationships,” Shelton said via press release. “The feedback we got from players he’s worked with previously has been outstanding. We look forward to him leading our hitting team moving forward.”
If the Pirates are going to have a shot to snap their nine-year streak of missing the playoffs, they need to get much more out of their offense. Hague will ultimately play a huge role in that in what'll likely be a make-or-break season for Pittsburgh's front office and coaching staff.
