After his first year as director of coaching and player development for the Pittsburgh Pirates, John Baker wanted to celebrate the success of the organization’s future with a tip of the cap to its past.
“One thing I always try to do in this modern era of baseball,” Baker said, “is try to link what we do now on the field to the greats of the past and the history of the organization.”
Baker was behind the re-branding of the club’s year-end awards for their minor league system, voted on by the team’s baseball operations staff, which involved naming awards for their top prospects after Pirates greats. The Pirates started a week-long celebration Tuesday by honoring the success of their coaches and top teammates.
Triple-A Indianapolis Indians pitching coach Joel Hanrahan was named the organization’s Danny Murtaugh coach of the Year, awarded to the Pirates minor league coach who has had the biggest impact on the development of talent throughout the season. It is named in honor of Murtaugh, who managed the Pirates for 15 seasons and led them to World Series championships in 1960 and ‘71.
A two-time All-Star closer who pitched for the Pirates from 2009-12, Hanrahan began his coaching career with short-season Bristol in 2017 and has served as a pitching coach at Single-A West Virginia in 2018, Double-A Altoona in 2019 and at the club’s alternate training site in 2020.
Baker complimented Hanrahan for doing a “fantastic job,” especially with so many pitchers going back and forth between Triple-A and the majors this season because of injuries and inconsistency.
“What you want to find with coaches that have playing experience is you’re looking for people that say, ‘Knowing what I know now, how would I have done this differently? How could I do this better?’” Baker said. “That’s what I would say about Joel. New pitching coordinator, building a relationship, dealing with a ton of pitching movement in Triple-A but getting better. Not just at his usage of information and acceptance to use information but also getting better at wanting to learn more about being a better movement assessor, produce better drill packages but also be very communicative up and down the organization.
“Having been a two-time All-Star, having pitched out of the bullpen before, having pitched in Pittsburgh before is sometimes a strike against when you’re coaching a younger player. But he leveraged both his relationship ability, his experience but also exemplified the mindset of taking this new information and accepting it and putting it into practice.”
The High-A Greensboro Grasshoppers coaching staff was named the organization’s staff of the year. Greensboro’s staff included manager Kieran Mattison, pitching coach Matt Ford, hitting coach Ruben Gotay, development coach Blake Butler, athletic trainer Victor Silva, baseball operations/minor league operations assistant Tyler Saundry, minor league strength and conditioning coach Henry Torres, nutritionist Eric Turner and clubhouse manager Kenny Berdejo.
“I was blessed to have a very talented group of coaches to work with,” Mattison said. “Just wanted to get better every day and want to get better for the simple fact, we just wanted to be in a position to help the players and serve them and give them everything they need to be successful.”
The Grasshoppers (74-46) advanced to the High-A East League championship series , the third-most victories among all teams in High-A. Offensively, the Grasshoppers finished tied for first among all High-A East teams in runs scored, hits and total bases, second in home runs, third in slugging and OPS and fifth in on-base percentage. Its pitching staff finished fifth among all High-A East League teams in strikeouts.
“I think he wanted to establish a player-friendly environment from the get go, and just a family vibe,” Grasshoppers shortstop Aaron Shackelford said. “I’ve always gotten, ‘Man, pro ball is a super-selfish environment’ just from friends who have played in the past. It’s all about guys trying to get to the big leagues. They don’t really care. But I didn’t get that, from day one, with this group, and that’s a testament to this staff who built that environment from the start.”
Shackelford joined Indianapolis Indians outfielder Bligh Madris, Double-A Altoona second baseman Josh Bissonette and Low-A Bradenton pitcher Logan Hofmann as the organization’s Manny Sanguillen Teammates-of-the-Year, given to one player at each of the four full-season affiliates who best exemplifies the former Pirates catcher’s passion for the game and ability to build friendships. Sanguillen was a three-time All-Star in 12 seasons with the Pirates and was a member of World Series champions in 1971 and ‘79.
“I think this award was special, especially after reading about Manny Sanguillen, because I didn’t know his background story,” Bissonette said. “I think this award is something special, just to be named after him because of what he did and just his will to be a good teammate and to serve the team and have good relationships, and I think that’s something all four of us can agree (on). It’s about bringing out the best in others and just having a positive attitude through the ups and downs of this game.”
On Wednesday, the Pirates will announce the organization’s Willie Stargell slugger of the year, Kent Tekulve reliever of the year, Bill Mazeroski defender of the year and Omar Moreno baserunner of the year awards. On Thursday, they will reveal the winners of the Honus Wagner player of the year and Bob Friend pitcher of the year awards.
Kevin Gorman is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Kevin by email at kgorman@triblive.com or via Twitter .
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