There’s incompetence, and then there’s cowardice. Cowardice is worse.
Incompetence is bringing on Andy Haines. Cowardice is watching what Haines has done these last two seasons and having not already pulled the plug.
Continuing to do nothing approaching the halfway point of the season is a choice. It is as transparent of a choice as there could possibly be. A choice fueled by fear of incurring any risk at all. The Pittsburgh Pirates continue to hold on to the hope that things will get better on their own. Andy Haines’ tenure has become a sunk-cost fallacy.
This is a more talented roster than we have seen previously. However, the way they have approached managing and coaching it marks rock bottom for an organization that constantly spews how much it wants to get better but continues to regress at the Major League level.
Here’s what Connor Joe told reporters after the game Sunday
“I think if we knew the answer, right, we’d be doing something different,”
It is Haines’ job to give those answers. If he has none, then he has no business being the hitting coach of an MLB team.
The Pirates have sat and watched as player after player has had their plate approach disintegrate, as they take pitches they have no business taking under Haines’ idea of plate discipline.
This is no longer a conversation about Haines failing to make Josh Vanmeter or Yoshi Tsutsugo better. Although it should be noted that not a single one of the various castoffs the team employed last year got better.
Henry Davis is here, and Haines is now his hitting coach.
Sound familiar? This was written and published on this site on June 27, 2023, almost a year ago. Not a single thing has changed, and it still rings true.
My fears expressed in that article have come to pass.
On Friday, Davis, who was slashing an abysmal .162/.280/.206 was optioned back to Triple-A.
After being an exceptional hitter at every single level of play he’s encountered, suddenly Davis couldn’t hit.
Recent comments from both Derek Shelton and Haines show the team is simply divorced from reality and running from accountability.