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The Pittsburgh Pirates entered the holiday season making numerous moves to its AAA coaching staff for the 2022 season.
On Thursday, 44-year-old Eric Munson was hired to mold the Bucs’ bats in Indianapolis.
The Pirates have hired Eric Munson as Indy's hitting coach. Munson played parts of nine MLB seasons and has been running a baseball academy over the past 8 years.
— Alex Stumpf (@AlexJStumpf) December 23, 2021
Jon Nunnally, who was the AAA hitting coach last year, will remain with the organization in a new role, per source.
Munson, a nine-year MLB veteran spanning 2000-09, was the third overall pick in the 1999 draft by the Detroit Tigers.
He opened Gold Standard Athletics in 2013 to help the next generation of baseball players in the Midwest improve their game.
Munson replaces Jon Nunnally, once thought of as an internal candidate for the MLB gig, who will still remain with the Pirates in a different capacity.
Indy is revamped with an entirely new staff, parting ways with manager Brian Esposito and former Pittsburgh closer Joel Hanrahan.
Hanrahan is probably the most surprising coaching-staff move from the past few months, moving his way up the ranks but failing to receive the call to the big leagues a second time.
Dan Meyer, formerly of the Atlanta Braves, will replace Hanrahan as pitching coach.
Meyer and Munson will be looked upon with somewhat lofty expectations as the Pirates top prospects on both ends of importance, paving the way for Quinn Priester, Roansy Contreras, Oneil Cruz, Nick Gonzales, Liover Peguero, and others over the next few seasons.
MILB transactions have been the extent of any baseball headlines spanning the past few weeks due to the lockout, with no end currently in sight.
Finalizing the Minor League coaching staffs and building depth throughout the organization will be critical as prospects evolve and develop in the organization and is another way to evaluate Ben Cherington into his third season.