The Pirates open a six-day trip to Chicago tonight, with two games scheduled on the South Side and four on the North Side.
Joe Block has a preview.
The Pirates yesterday fired hitting coach Rick Eckstein. He’d been with the teams since 2019, when he joined former manager Clint Hurdle’s staff. Current manager Derek Shelton said it was ultimately his decision, and was not based on player performance, but rather on a desire for new leadership for the Bucs’ hitting program. Pirates hitters are last in the Major League Baseball in a number of categories, including home runs, RBIs, runs, slugging percentage, and on-base-plus-slugging. Their collective .233 batting average is 27th out of 30 teams.
Shelton says assistant hitting coach Christian Marrero, and assistant coaches Tim McKeithan, Mike Rabelo and Don Kelly will handle Eckstein’s responsibilities for the rest of the season.
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