More change is coming to the Pirates’ Class AAA coaching staff next season.
The Pirates have hired Eric Munson as Indianapolis’ next hitting coach, per a source.
Jon Nunnally, who was the Indianapolis hitting coach last season, will remain with the organization as Class AA Altoona's hitting coach.
This means that it will be a clean sweep of the three top coaches at Indianapolis next year, as manager Brian Esposito was let go at the end of the season and pitching coach Joel Hanrahan left to pursue a new opportunity. Indianapolis will be one of the main talent hubs in the Pirates' organization next season.
A source had previously told DK Pittsburgh Sports that Dan Meyer will take over as Indianapolis’ pitching coach. There’s no word yet on who will take over as manager, though general manager Ben Cherington has alluded in the past that there’s a strong possibility it will be an internal promotion.
Munson, 44, played parts of nine major-league seasons with the Tigers, Devil Rays, Astros and Athletics from 2000-2009. He has run a baseball academy called Gold Standard Athletics for the past eight years in Dubuque, Iowa. He was an All-American at USC and was taken third overall in the 1999 amateur draft.
It will be Munson’s first turn as a professional coach, telling Jim Leitner of the Telegraph Herald that he was impressed by how the Pirates are approaching player development and coaching.
“They’re trying to get the best out of each individual and understand that sometimes you have to challenge yourself as a coach and you have to be open,” Munson told Leitner. “You want to listen to suggestions. At the end of the day, hitting isn’t a debate, it’s a conversation. In talking to the Pirates, that’s really what I felt like. I’m excited to learn.”
Leitner also notes that Munson had previously worked with Andy Haines, who was officially announced as the Pirates’ new major-league hitting coach this month.
For Nunnally, he will return for his fourth season with the Pirates organization and his 15th as a minor-league instructor. He had previously coached at the alternate training site in 2020 and as Altoona’s hitting coach in 2019. He will work with some of the organization's top hitting prospects next year with Altoona, including Nick Gonzales and Liover Peguero.
This is one of five known coaching and front office hires the Pirates have made this offseason. The club will make an announcement of all the new hires and people who are having their roles shift at a later date.
