Pirates Promote Bullpen Catcher to Catching Coach
The Pittsburgh Pirates' shuffling of their coaching staff continued with the hiring of a new catching coach.
Alex Stumpf of MLB.com reported that Pittsburgh promoted Jordan Comadena to become the team's new catching coach on Wednesday. Comadena had been the team's bullpen catcher since 2016. Stumpf also noted that Comadena will remain one of the bullpen catchers next season while also being the team's catching coach.
Pittsburgh has also hired Matt Hague as the team's new hitting coach and Brent Strom to be the assistant pitching coach.
Comadena played for the Houston Astros from 2009 to 2012 and reached Double-A but never managed to crack the big league roster. He was previously at Purdue University as an assistant in 2015-16 before joining the Pirates as a bullpen catcher.
The Pirates currently have four catchers on their 40-man roster with former No. 1 pick Henry Davis, former top prospect Endy Rodríguez and Joey Bart, who emerged as the team's primary catcher last season. Rodríguez spent most of last season rehabbing from an elbow injury that required surgery on his UCL and only played 10 games in the minor leagues.
Pittsburgh is still searching for its next bullpen coach after parting ways with Justin Meccage earlier in the offseason after five seasons.
