Andy Haines’ rise to becoming a major-league hitting coach a decade ago was aided by the breakout of one of his star pupils, Christian Yelich.
His dismissal as Brewers hitting coach this fall was due in part to the up-and-down results of several key hitters, including Yelich.
That time with the Brewers is going to be different than his upcoming job as Pirates hitting coach. There, he worked with mostly veterans. With the Pirates, it will be almost exclusively young players and rookies. That experience as a minor-league coach and hitting coordinator was part of the reason why Derek Shelton and Ben Cherington ultimately chose him for the job.