Phillies Talking To Pirates Jim Benedict for Pitching Coach Job

Jim Benedict is the man behind the curtain for the Pittsburgh Pirates.  Congrats to him on getting noticed by the Phillies.  Now we can only trust the Phillies screw this up, losing Benedict would suck.  But that’s me being selfish.

Benedict was described best in this article by Dejan.  Link here.  The article talks about the rebuilding of Charlie Morton.

"Joining the Pirates as a special assistant to Huntington will be Jim Benedict, who most recently worked as a Major League scout for Cleveland. Prior to Benedict’s two years with the Indians, he spent six seasons with the Yankees as a scout and special assistant to baseball operations. After a brief Minor League playing career, Benedict broke into the Majors as a scout for the Rangers in 1990."

Benedict was hired by Neal Huntington as an assistant back in 2008.   He also worked as the Montreal Expos pitching coordinator back in 1994 to 1999.  He was with the Dodgers for two years in 1999 and 2000.  At  the time, Benedict had worked with Joe Kerrigan who was the pitching coach for the Expos.  But we all know how Kerrigan worked out in Pittsburgh.

Benedict seems like a witch doctor to me.  The players react positively to his suggestions which might be one of the biggest compliments one can expect in a coach.