{"id":84985,"date":"2024-09-05T17:47:09","date_gmt":"2024-09-05T21:47:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=84985"},"modified":"2024-09-05T17:47:09","modified_gmt":"2024-09-05T21:47:09","slug":"pirates-pitching-coach-oscar-marin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/09\/05\/pirates-pitching-coach-oscar-marin\/","title":{"rendered":"Amid Cries for Changes, One Pirates Coach Should Remain"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A disappointing season in Pittsburgh may result in changes. One unfortunate, underserving casualty might be pitching coach <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/bullpen\/Oscar_Marin\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Oscar Marin<\/a>. That would be regrettable because amid the frustration of the five-year Ben Cherington\/<a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/managers\/sheltde99.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Derek Shelton<\/a> regime, the Pirates pitching coach has had more successes than failures, despite working mostly with a collection of castoffs and young, inexperienced pitchers for five years.<\/p>\n<h2>Amid Cries for Changes, Pirates Pitching Coach Marin Should Remain<\/h2>\n<p>With a record of 65-74 in a year when owner Bob Nutting expected the Pirates to contend, surely heads will roll after the season. The guess here is that Cherington is safe for another year or two. However, with each additional loss, it gets harder to imagine Shelton and hitting coach <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/bullpen\/Andy_Haines\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Andy Haines<\/a> surviving this mess. Shelton seems to be feeling the heat. Uncharacteristically, he showed his anger in front of the media on two recent occasions. After the Pirates blew a 10-3 lead to the Chicago Cubs last week, calling into question <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/08\/29\/closer-options-pirates-bednar-slumps\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">the continued use<\/a> of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/b\/bednada01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-09-05_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">David Bednar<\/a> as a closer, Shelton told the media, \u201cI don\u2019t know if I\u2019ve been as pissed as I am right now.\u201d Then Shelton got testy after the Pirates were no-hit by the Cubs on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Derek Shelton snaps in his postgame media session in Chicago after being asked about Rowdy Tellez pitching again<\/p>\n<p>Read more for FREE on our Pirates feed: <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/aRlTMd5YDP\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/aRlTMd5YDP<\/a> <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/DKPS?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#DKPS<\/a> <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/PittsburghPirates?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#PittsburghPirates<\/a> <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/aRNus918QZ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/aRNus918QZ<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 DK Pittsburgh Sports (@DKPghSports) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DKPghSports\/status\/1831527021823881664?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">September 5, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Nutting is rarely available to the media and thus there\u2019s no window to what he might be thinking. He might want to make wholesale changes, in which case Shelton\u2019s entire staff would be dragged down with him. However, Nutting should carefully consider whether dismissing his pitching coach is warranted.<\/p>\n<h3>Marin as Pitching Coach: The Numbers<\/h3>\n<p>As of the close of Wednesday\u2019s action, among the 30 major league teams, the Pirates\u2019 team ERA of 4.15 ranks 17th. They rank 23rd in WHIP allowed with 1.312 and 25th in opponents\u2019 batting average at .252. Of course, there\u2019s plenty of room for improvement in those figures. Nonetheless, they\u2019ve shown marked improvement from 2019, the year before Marin became the pitching coach. In 2019, the team had a 5.18 ERA (ranking 26th in the majors), 1.415 WHIP (25th), and .268 opponents\u2019 average (25th).<\/p>\n<p>Getting a little geekier, the Pirates rank 12th with 16.28 pitches per inning, a measure of pitchers\u2019 efficiency. They rank 18th in average exit velocity allowed (89.0 mph), which could be better, but nonetheless is also better than four postseason-bound teams. More encouraging is their 7.9 percent ratio of \u201cbarrels\u201d to \u201cbatted ball events\u201d and 5.4 percent ratio of \u201cbarrels\u201d to plate appearances, which rank 15th and 14th, respectively.<\/p>\n<h3>Marin as Pitching Coach: Beyond the Numbers<\/h3>\n<p>There\u2019s a human side to this, too, of course. When Nutting fired pitching coach <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/s\/searara01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-09-05_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ray Searage<\/a> after the 2019 season, he cited pitchers who had improved after moving on from the Pirates. He didn\u2019t name names, but he didn\u2019t have to. They were <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/c\/colege01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-09-05_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Gerrit Cole<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=mortoch02,mortoch01&amp;search=Charlie+Morton&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-09-05_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Charlie Morton<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/g\/glasnty01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-09-05_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tyler Glasnow<\/a>, although people forgot Cole won 19 games for the 2015 Pirates. Glasnow was the one who was vocal about how the coaching staff didn\u2019t help him. He\u2019s since backed off and cites his youth and inexperience when discussing his failures in Pittsburgh. In any event, it\u2019s important to look at how Marin has fared with certain individuals.<\/p>\n<h3>The First Big Test<\/h3>\n<p>Marin\u2019s first big test as Pirates pitching coach was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/k\/kellemi03.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-09-05_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mitch Keller<\/a>. Keller was a highly regarded prospect who <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/02\/23\/mitch-keller-pirates-extension\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">struggled at first<\/a>. From 2019-21, he had a 6.02 ERA and 1.732 WHIP. The last thing Nutting wanted to see was for Keller to flourish with another team. Marin had to fix him. In 2022, Keller had a 6.61 ERA after seven starts. He was sent to the bullpen for a few days. After two relief outings, he finished strong and lowered his ERA to 3.91. In 2023, Keller was an All-Star and had a strong case for a second selection in 2024.<\/p>\n<h3>Marin as Pitching Coach: Failures and Successes<\/h3>\n<p>That\u2019s not all. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/q\/quintjo01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-09-05_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jose Quintana<\/a> came to the Pirates after a 2019-21 stretch where his ERA was 5.13 and WHIP was 1.471. As a Pirate in 2022, he had a 3.50 ERA and 1.272 WHIP and became a desirable commodity on the trade market. Hard-throwing lefty <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/h\/hernajo03.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jose Hernandez<\/a> was a Rule 5 draftee who had to remain with the big club for all of 2023. He had growing pains but was a useful reliever who Shelton turned to in plenty of key situations. Another lefty reliever, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/b\/borucry01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-09-05_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ryan Borucki<\/a>, joined the Bucs last year after a mediocre four years that produced a 4.45 ERA and 1.400 WHIP. All he did in 2023 was post a 2.45 ERA and a major-league-best 0.774 WHIP.<\/p>\n<p>After struggling last season, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=ortizlu03,ortizlu02,ortiz-014lui,ortizlu01&amp;search=Luis+Ortiz&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-09-05_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Luis Ortiz<\/a> has bounced back to become one of the Pirates\u2019 better and most underrated pitchers in 2024. Starting and relieving, his record is 6-4 with a 3.19 ERA and 1.097 WHIP. Rookie <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/n\/nicolky01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-09-05_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kyle Nicolas<\/a>, a hard-throwing right-hander with a reputation for wildness, has <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/08\/06\/pirates-bullpen-nicolas-important-role\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">excelled lately<\/a>. Since June 12, his ERA is 2.57 and he\u2019s struck out 34 in 35 innings. Marin also oversaw the emergence of Bednar as a two-time All-Star closer and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/h\/holdeco01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-09-05_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Colin Holderman<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/m\/mlodzca01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-09-05_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Carmen Mlodzinski<\/a> as useful high-leverage pieces. All three have struggled this year, but one likely reason might be their willingness to pitch through injuries.<\/p>\n<h3>The New Guys<\/h3>\n<p>Looking at this year\u2019s additions, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/07\/29\/pirates-trade-jalen-beeks-rockies\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">recent acquisition<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/b\/beeksja02.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-09-05_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jalen Beeks<\/a> is putting up the best numbers of his career so far, albeit in a small 13-inning sample size. A pleasant surprise has been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/s\/santade01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-09-05_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dennis Santana<\/a>. His <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/06\/13\/dennis-santana-yankees-pirates\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">selection from the New York Yankees on waivers<\/a> was greeted by a collective yawn from Pirates fans. But after a rough second outing with Pittsburgh, since June 18, he\u2019s had an ERA of 1.44 in 26 games. Opponents are hitting .202 against him in that time. He\u2019s unscored upon in his last 11 appearances.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, there are rookie sensations <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/s\/skenepa01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-09-05_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Paul Skenes<\/a>, who <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/07\/12\/pirates-skenes-starting-all-star-game\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">started in the All-Star Game<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=jonesja09,jones-013jar&amp;search=Jared+Jones&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-09-05_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jared Jones<\/a>. <a href=\"https:\/\/thecynics.net\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cynics<\/a> would suggest, correctly, that their talent is off the charts and who their pitching coach is, whether Marin or somebody else, doesn\u2019t matter. For those cynics who believe that a pitching coach can\u2019t ruin a talented pitcher, I have two words: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/c\/colboji01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-09-05_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jim Colborn<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3>Failure&#8217;s No Success at All<\/h3>\n<p>No doubt, Marin has had failures, too. Since <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/h\/holmecl01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-09-05_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Clay Holmes<\/a> was traded from Pittsburgh, he\u2019s pitched well for the Yankees, notching 73 saves <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/08\/04\/yankees-closer-clay-holmes\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">despite recent struggles<\/a>. All Marin could coax from highly regarded <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/p\/priesqu01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-09-05_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Quinn Priester<\/a> was a 6.46 ERA over two seasons. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/c\/contrro01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-09-05_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Roansy Contreras<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/y\/yajurmi01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-09-05_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Miguel Yajure<\/a> were notable prospects acquired from the Yankees in 2021. Neither is with the Pirates now. But that\u2019s how it goes. No matter how good one is at his job, there will always be people who don\u2019t respond. The opinion here is that Marin deserves to stay regardless of what other changes may be made.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Photo Credit: \u00a9 Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A disappointing season in Pittsburgh may result in changes. One unfortunate, underserving casualty might be pitching coach Oscar Marin. That would be regrettable because amid the frustration of the five-year Ben Cherington\/Derek Shelton regime, the Pirates pitching coach has had more successes than failures, despite working mostly with a collection of castoffs and young, inexperienced [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5010,"featured_media":85008,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26,1071],"tags":[833,5685,5829,4790,611,2146,3718,2762,6371,1245],"class_list":["post-84985","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pirates","category-mlb","tag-charlie-morton","tag-colin-holderman","tag-david-bednar","tag-dennis-santana","tag-gerrit-cole","tag-jalen-beeks","tag-jared-jones","tag-mitch-keller","tag-paul-skenes","tag-tyler-glasnow"],"modified_by":"Lewis Masella, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84985","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5010"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84985"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84985\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/85008"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}