Pittsburgh fan favorite, Enrique Delapiedra, decided to retire following the Pirates playoff run. The Pirates decided to not offer him a contract to play for them next season but offered him a position as the hitting coach. Current hitting coach, Todd Helton, decided that he wanted to spend more time with his family in the future so the position was open. Coach Ellis Burks said he was "very excited" to be working with Enrique on the coaching staff and commented that he will be "as good of a hitting coach as anybody in baseball."
Delapiedra spent his major league career between the Marlins and Pirates as a switch hitting fill in outfielder. Delapiedra fell into a lot of starting opportunities with the Pirates and excelled and became a favorite in Pittsburgh. Delapiedra hit over .330 for three seasons in a row for the Pirates and finishes his career with an excellent .304 batting average.
On a side Pirates note, first baseman Benoit Stanczak also decided to retire this offseason after a fill in role at the end of September to propel the Pirates to a playoff spot. Benoit was very excited to be asked to join the Pirates again this season and was thrilled to be part of the Pirates ending their playoff drought. Pirates fans always will wonder how good Benoit could have been if the injury bug didn't tear his career apart.
No comments:
Post a Comment