The Pirates have hired former major league outfielder Jacob Cruz as their assistant hitting coach.
The appointment of Cruz, who was the Cubs' minor league hitting coordinator this year, was announced Tuesday. He replaces Jeff Livesey, who was fired Oct. 1 along with hitting coach Jeff Branson.
The Pirates were 19th in the major leagues with an average of 4.30 runs a game in 2018.
Cruz, 45, will directly assist hitting coach Rick Eckstein, who was hired earlier this month. Cruz was the hitting coach for the Cubs' Double-A Tennessee farm club in 2017 and spent the previous six years working in the Diamondbacks' farm system.
Drafted in the first round in 1994 by the Giants out of Arizona State, Cruz played in the major leagues for nine seasons. He hit .241/.331/.377 with 19 home runs in 409 games with the Giants (1996-98), Indians (1999-2001), Rockies (2001), Tigers (2002) and Reds (2004-05).
Cruz also played three seasons in the Mexican League and logged two years in the Korea Baseball Organization.