Pirates release official Minor League coaching assignments

After months of rearranging coaches across the farm system, the Pittsburgh Pirates announced today their official Minor League coaching assignments for the 2022 season. While some of these moves were announced over the past few weeks, the team released a full breakdown of roles, spanning from development to team-by-team staffing.

For Indianapolis, Miguel Perez was formally announced as the team’s new manager, with Eric Munson taking over as hitting coach, Dan Meyer as pitching coach, Brady Conlan as the Integrated Baseball Performance Coach, and Gary Green as the team’s Bench Coach.

Perez and Green were promoted from Altoona following last season and led the Curve to a 58-59 record in 2021, finishing 4th in the Double-A Northeast-Southwest Division. Munson, a former Major League player, was hired as the hitting coach three weeks ago.

In Altoona, Kieran Mattison will take over as the team’s manager following a prolific 2021 season at the High-A level with Greensboro, where he led the Grasshoppers to a 74-46 record and an appearance in the High-A championship series against Bowling Green. Joe Nunnally, who spent last season as the hitting coach at Indianapolis, will be the team’s new hitting coach while Stephen Morales will be the team’s new Development Coach.

Drew Benes remains as the team’s pitching coach.

In Greensboro, Callix Crabbe will take over for Mattison as the team’s manager, while former MLB players Ruben Gotay and Fernando Nieve join the staff as the hitting and pitching coaches.

Nieve comes to Altoona after spending last season as the pitching coach of the Bradenton Marauders, while Gotay is new to the organization.

Lastly, in Low-A Bradenton, Jonathan Johnston returns as the team’s manager after leading the Marauders to a 71-48 record and a Low-A Southeast Championship title over Tampa. Former Pirates infielder Mendy Lopez takes over as the team’s hitting coach and Gustavo Omana is slated as the team’s Development Coach.

The pitching coach position, however, is still vacant.

On the general side of development and coordination, the Pirates announced that Michael Chernow will take over as the new Assistant Director of Coaching and Player Development, while Julio Sepulveda will take over as the Coordinator of Coaching of Player Development role. Other roles announced include Shawn Johnston as the Project Management Coordinator.

A full list of the hires can be found below: