3 reasons Pirates fans should believe in Matt Hague as hitting coach

After a long search to replace Andy Haines, the Pirates have chosen Matt Hague to succeed him and become Pittsburgh's new hitting coach. He was very popular in Toronto and appears to be a guy that could fix a disappointing Pirates offense.

Hague was an assistant hitting coach with the Blue Jays, but nonetheless, the offense he was in partial command of generated some significant numbers. On top of that, his offense did solidly in Triple-A when he was the head hitting coach of the Buffalo Bisons.

He has proven himself as a coach, but if that wasn't enough to convince fans, maybe his impressive minor league career will. It's worth a deeper dive into why Hague is qualified for the job and why fans should have faith in him.

Why should fans believe in Matt Hague as Pirates hitting coach?

In his short tenure with the Blue Jays, he was a part of an offense with some impressive numbers that could hint at revival for this Pirate offense. One of the most important parts of hitting is putting the ball in play, which was something the Pirates struggled with in 2024, ranking 25th in contact percentage at 74.5%. Toronto was ranked third at 79.7%, which would be a massive jump for Pittsburgh.

Along with that, the Blue Jays had the sixth-lowest strikeout percentage (K%) at 20.7%, ranked seventh in walk percentage (BB%) at 8.4%, and finished 13th in wRC+ at 101. In the same statistics, the Pirates had the fifth-highest K% at 24.7%, came in 17th in BB% at 8%, and ended up 28th in wRC+ at 86. Hague's offensive philosophies resulted in strong results in key areas where the Pirates lag behind, and there is a lot of confidence that he can do the same in Pittsburgh.

Another reson to believe in Hague comes from what he accomplished in his professional career. Although he was not an All-Star and did not have 100 major league at bats, he proved to have a great bat in the minor leagues.

In his minor-league career, Hague had a batting average of .292 with 90 home runs, driving in 619. His OPS was solid at .801, which came from an on-base percentage of .374 and a slugging percentage of .427. He also added a 9.8% walk rate and a strikeout percentage of 12.9%.

Lastly, the approach that Hague brings to his offense meshes well with the Pirates lineup's current needs. As mentioned previously, what his offense does is put the ball in play consistently with high contact rates. The Pirates did not do that, and with the big time hitters in the Pittsburgh lineup, they could greatly improve their games by putting the ball in play more.

The Pirates ranked ninth in MLB in hard-hit percentage with a rate of 39.9%. Additionally, they ranked 11th in barrel percentage at 8.2%. That is great when they actually put the ball in play, but they were sixth in all of baseball in whiff percentage at 27.7%. If they would put the ball in play more and use their impressive hard hit rates as a team, their offense could be excellent, and that is exactly what Hague can bring.

Hague's philosophy of putting the ball in play would greatly benefit the players on the roster currently, which makes him a perfect fit. On top of that, Hague returns to the city where he made his Major League debut in 2012. This hire is looking great on paper, but time will tell if it truly was the right one.