Pirates
5 Potential Pirates Hitting Coach Candidates

The Pittsburgh Pirates are in search of a new hitting coach after parting ways with Andy Haines after three seasons. Haines was dismissed along with bullpen coach Justin Meccage as Derek Shelton shakes up his staff for the 2025 season.
Under Haines’ watch, the Pirates’ offense struggled and the 2024 season was no different. This past year, the Pirates ranked 23rd in baseball in batting average, 24th in runs, 25th in OPS and had the fourth-most strikeouts of any team.
The Pirates are banking on a fresh voice and new philosophy to break from the typical hitting woes over the past handful of seasons.
As they begin their search for a new hitting coach, here are five possibilities.
Eric Munson (Triple-A Indianapolis hitting coach)
Since I believe that the Pirates should be looking externally for candidates, I didn’t want to include an internal option. However, Munson could very well be under consideration.
Munson was named hitting coach for Indianapolis in the same offseason the Pirates hired Haines. He’s held in high regard by a number of people in the organization.
Munson’s familiarity with a handful of younger Pirates who he’s worked with at Indianapolis should not be looked over. Players such as Henry Davis, Nick Gonzales and Endy RodrĂguez are among the players who were under Munson’s tutelage upon reaching Triple-A. His work with Billy Cook and Nick Yorke after they were acquired by the Pirates seemed to go well.
While other internal options such as assistant hitting coach Christian Marrero don’t make much sense to me, Munson does to some degree.
Hensley Meulens (Colorado Rockies hitting coach)
Lateral moves for Major League coaches aren’t frequent, but there could be some level of interest with Meulens.
While the Rockies’ offense is not very potent, Meulens is a well-traveled and well-respected hitting coach. He’s served as hitting coach for four different teams in his career, most notably a 10-year stint with the San Francisco Giants, where he helped win three World Series championships in a five-year stretch.
If Shelton and the Pirates want more of a veteran presence to lead their hitting group, the 57-year-old Meulens could be an option.
Eric Chavez (New York Mets co-hitting coach)
Chavez has already worked a variety of roles with the Mets since he was hired before the start of the 2022 season.
He was initially brought on as hitting coach before he was named bench coach in 2023. Under new manager Carlos Mendoza, Chavez was shifted from bench coach to co-hitting coach for 2024.
This season, the Mets slugged the sixth-most home runs with 207 and finished ninth with a .734 OPS. In 2022, the Mets ranked sixth in OPS but fell to 18th when Chavez was serving as bench coach a year ago.
Chavez had a strong 17-year career in the big leagues before his post-playing days, which includes broadcasting and working in two different front offices before starting his coaching career.
David Popkins (former Minnesota Twins hitting coach)
The Twins find themselves in a similar position as the Pirates after parting ways with Popkins, who had been the club’s hitting coach the past three seasons.
Under his watch, Minnesota never finished worse than 11th among the 30 teams in OPS. In 2024, the Twins finished 10th in runs and were in the top half of the league in home runs, on-base percentage, slugging and OPS.
Prior to getting hired by the Twins, Popkins served as hitting coach in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ minor league system in 2019 and 2021. There was no minor league season in 2020 because of the pandemic.
Sean Casey (MLB Network analyst, former New York Yankees interim hitting coach)
The final name on my list is an outside-the-box candidate and probably the least likely of the five listed.
Casey has been on MLB Network for years but paused his television career by serving as the Yankees’ interim hitting coach from last July through the end of the season. While there were discussions about removing the interim tag from Casey’s title, he ultimately walked away from his position to be with his family more during the season.
But Casey, who graduated from Upper St. Clair High School, still resides in Pittsburgh. Known for his big personality, the Pirates’ hitting coach job might be the only one he’d consider based off his reasoning for leaving New York.
Casey played part of the 2006 season with his hometown Pirates.