The Pirates will go into 2025 with a pool of younger catchers with appreciable upside, and a brand new coach to assist them develop defensively.
The group is elevating Jordan Comadena to Main League catching coach, sources advised MLB.com on Wednesday. Comadena has served as a bullpen catcher since 2016, and he’ll proceed to take action in ’25 along with his work with the catchers.
Comadena has labored extensively with Henry Davis defensively over the previous 12 months and a half, serving to the 2021 No. 1 general decide develop significantly as a receiver by way of the usage of weighted balls, specialised drills and a deeper dive into Davis’ stance. Whereas Davis struggled on the plate in ’24, his defensive enchancment was plain, and the group felt comfy turning to him as a catcher after limiting him to simply two Main League innings in 2023.
Earlier than Davis, Comadena teamed with former Pirate Jacob Stallings in 2019, serving to Stallings go from being a fringe Main Leaguer to a powerful pitch framer and an eventual 2021 Gold Glove winner.
The Pirates at present have 4 catchers on their 40 man roster: Davis, Joey Bart, Endy RodrÃguez and Jason Delay. Bart is the obvious entrance runner for the beginning job in 2025 after breaking out on the plate final season, however his defensive work might enhance, being price -4 defensive runs saved, in keeping with Fielding Bible. Baseball Savant valued Bart’s receiving expertise at -2 framing runs. Whereas Bart is the perceived starter in the mean time, Davis and RodrÃguez will get an opportunity to unseat him because the starter, and protection will definitely play into the choice.
Sources had advised MLB.com early this offseason that the Pirates had employed Matt Hague to be their new hitting coach and Brent Strom as an assistant pitching coach. The group nonetheless wants one other pitching coach to work from the bullpen, which might be one other conventional pitching or bullpen coach, or probably somebody with a special teaching background.
