Rick Eckstein is getting his second chance to be a major league hitting coach after being hired by the Pirates to replace Jeff Branson.
He spent five seasons in that role with the Nationals from 2009-13. Eckstein's hitters did not tear up the league under his watch, but Washington was also in rebuilding mode in 2009 and 2010, going 59-103 and 69-93 before jumping to 80-81 and winning the National League East in 2012 with a 98-64 record.
Eckestein was then fired after the 2013 season, and manager Davey Johnson was so distraught that he asked general manager Mike Rizzo to let him go instead. The Nationals missed the postseason that year, going 86-76.
The Nationals finished 22nd in runs scored among the 30 major league teams in 2009 with an average of 4.38. They fell to 25th the following year with a 4.04 average, then moved up to 23rd in 2011 with 3.88. Washington's best season under Eckstein came in 2012 when the Nationals were 10th with a 4.51 mark, but they dropped to 15th at 4.01 in his final season.
Eckestein's team ranked between eighth and 21st in home runs during his tenure. They ranged from ninth to 27th in batting average, 12th to 25th in on-base percentage and sixth to 22nd in slugging percentage.
A useful statistic to gauge an offense's effectiveness is on-base-plus-slugging percentage plus, which takes into effect such factors as home ballpark and the general hitting environment in the major leagues that season, An OPS-plus of 100 is average, while a higher number favors hitting and a lower number favors pitching.
The Nationals ranked 15th (96), 25th (91), 24th (89), eighth (101) and 19th (94th) -- just above MLB average only once in five seasons, and just barely.
Coaches often learn from their first stints, and that is certainly the Pirates' belief with Eckstein. Since being canned by the Nationals, Eckestein spent the 2014 season as an assistant hitting coach/information coach/advance scout with the Angels, 2015-16 as the hitting coach at the University of Kentucky and the past two seasons as the Twins' minor-league hitting coordinator.
The Pirates finished 19th in the major leagues with 4.30 runs scored per game this year and 25th with 157 homers. However, there are signs the offense was a little better than those numbers indicate, as the Pirates ranked 11th in batting average (.254), 15th in OPS-plus (98), 16th in slugging percentage (.407) and 17th in on-base percentage (.313).
Seven of the Pirates' eight projected regulars for 2019 had an OPS-plus over 100: Gregory Polanco (128), Francisco Cervelli (123), Corey Dickerson (119), Adam Frazier (118), Starling Marte (114), Josh Bell (111) and Colin Moran (105).
The only one under 100 was rookie shortstop Kevin Newman (33), and he was way under. The Pirates this offseason are likely to add a veteran shortstop who can either be the starter or share the position with Newman.
The Pirates' biggest problem was a lack of home runs. Polanco led the team with 23 but ranked just 58th in the majors. The only major league clubs with lower team-leading figures were the Marlins (J.T. Realmuto, 21) and Giants (Evan Longoria, 16).