Pitcher wants to keep coach
The Pittsburgh Pirates changed pitching coaches after the 2005, 2007 and 2008 seasons.
BRADENTON, Fla. (AP) — The Pittsburgh Pirates have yet to throw a meaningful pitch this year, but already right-hander Ian Snell is lobbying to keep new pitching coach Joe Kerrigan.
The Pirates changed pitching coaches after the 2005, 2007 and 2008 seasons. Snell, who is coming off the worst year of his career, is weary of the coaching carousel.
“I’d rather there just be one pitching coach,” Snell said. “So, let’s say we don’t do so well this year. Don’t change the pitching coach again. That would just continue to mess us up and not let us make progress.
“When [Jim] Colborn was here, I was progressing really good. Then we changed, and I fell back. Now this time, I don’t know yet, but hopefully I’ll do better than last year.”
Colborn was let go when manager Jim Tracy was fired in 2007. Jeff Andrews, who mentored Snell and many other Pirates starters in the minors, took his place, only to be let go hours after the final game of 2008.
The results under Andrews were discouraging to the Pirates: a 5.10 team ERA that ranked as the third-worst in team history and a .286 opponents’ batting average — even though the club’s perceived strength was the young pitching staff.
The front office also was unhappy with the way Andrews handled the staff during his first season in the majors.
Kerrigan was hired in October after spending last summer as a baseball analyst on cable television and radio in Philadelphia.
He has coached 18 seasons in the majors, 12 as a pitching coach.
“He brings a lot of experience and a lot of talent,” Pirates general manager Neal Huntington said.
Among Kerrigan’s former pupils is Pedro Martinez, who won the Cy Young Award in 1999 and 2000. In 1999, Kerrigan’s Boston Red Sox staff led the American League in ERA, shutouts and strikeouts. He later was a Yankees coach.
“His knowledge of the game is like something I’ve never seen,” Pirates left-hander Tom Gorzelanny said.
“It’s pretty cool and he’s fun to work with. It’s going to be good for all of us.”
Gorzelanny also struggled last season after winning 14 games in 2007 and by midseason was demoted to Triple-A Indianapolis.
Kerrigan spent the offseason breaking down game video of everyone on the pitching staff. What he saw on the computer screen — solid mechanics, fluid deliveries — did not translate to the poor statistics the team had last year.
After watching the first bullpen sessions of spring training, Kerrigan was upbeat.
“I see [the need for] a few tweaks, a few adjustments here and there, but everybody has that in spring training,” Kerrigan said.
“As a whole, I think we have a good foundation of deliveries here, in the starting rotation and in the bullpen.”