Hanrahan’s goal: Return to the majors
Pitching coach climbs through minor leagues
Now five years into his coaching career, the biggest thing Joel Hanrahan has had to learn on this side of the fence has been patience.
As a former player, the Pirates’ valued pitching coach also wishes he could travel back in time and listen to his own coaches a little more, realizing there were probably kernels of wisdom that he missed the first time around.
But as Hanrahan has steadily climbed the ladder as a pitching coach, clearing minor league hurdles oneby-one every season, the principle of patience could again come into play.
“I want to get to the big leagues,” Hanrahan told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette by phone on Tuesday night. “I think everybody wants to be a coach or play in the big leagues. It’s a big step, and there are only 30 pitching coaches and 30 bullpen coaches. It’s not an easy gig to get. You have to put a lot of time in.”
The Pirates find themselves in an interesting spot with Hanrahan, who was recognized as the Danny Murtaugh coach of the year for his exemplary work developing pitchers with Class AAA Indianapolis. There are few people who doubt that one day Hanrahan — a Pirates reliever from 2009-12 and a two-time All-Star during that successful span — will one day become a major league pitching coach. But when?
Right now, the two jobs he mentioned are occupied by Oscar Marin ( pitching coach) and Justin Meccage (bullpen coach). The organization is clearly pleased with the work Hanrahan has done; however, if the Pirates were planning on moving on from Marin or Meccage, chances are they would’ve done it by now considering they’ve already let go their hitting and third- base coaches from 2021.
Hanrahan’s success marrying the analytics inherent to today’s game with an oldschool, honest approach can’t possibly be a secret around Major League Baseball, and sooner or later another organization will have an opening.
“I’ve had a couple years in the minors,” said Hanrahan, whose career started in rookie ball with the Bristol Pirates in 2017. “Obviously put some time in as a player. The goal is to get there and coach there for a while. Whether it’s with the Pirates or somebody else, who knows? I’m just kind of waiting around to see what happens and be prepared.”
Asked about Hanrahan and the work he has done, Pirates director of coaching and player development John Baker praised the former pitcher’s ability to blend his own knowledge with a continual desire to learn.
“What you want to find with coaches that have playing experience is you’re looking for people who say, ‘Knowing what I know now, how would I have done this differently? How could I do this better?’ That’s what I would say about Joel,” Baker said.
Hanrahan has gotten better and better with how he uses information to help pitchers improve, as well as his ability to communicate with other members of the organization and devise drills to aid those he instructs.
That work has helped him forge meaningful relationships with players, where they’re quick to trust and praise Hanrahan for the work he has done extending or accelerating their careers, enabling them to tap into areas of improvement they might not have previously seen.
Hanrahan has become the rare blend of former player who can relay his own experiences and update them with the advances that have occurred in the modern game, never becoming the type who finds himself resistant to change.
“Having been a two-time All-Star, having pitched out of the bullpen before or having pitched in Pittsburgh before is sometimes a strike against when you’re coaching a younger player,” Baker said. “But he has leveraged both his relationship-building ability and experience while also exemplifying the mindset of taking this new information and accepting it and putting it into practice.
“Obviously, we’re very proud of him and the work that he’s done. Across the board from Hanny, just a fantastic job that he’s done this season.”
The way Hanrahan sees it, newer concepts such as spin rate, four-seam fastball usage up in the zone or the tunneling of a hard breaking ball are all things he did as a pitcher. They were simply called something else back then.
He’s also well-aware that there’s a less quantifiable part of the game — the ability to master the stuff between the ears, to develop confidence and arm pitchers with the tools they need to succeed.
“The object is the same,” Hanrahan said. “It’s just that the terminology is a little bit different. Being able to speak the language to the guys and know what you’re talking about, that definitely helps me relates to them more.
“A lot of these guys now want to see the data. They want the visuals. You can tell ’ em a thousand times, but you show ’em a picture … they say a picture says 1,000 words. Sometimes the guys just have to see it.”
Hanrahan went from Bristol to Class A West Virginia in 2018. A promotion to Class AA Altoona followed in 2019 before Hanrahan spent 2020 at the Pirates’ alternate training site in the same location, preparing pitchers without the benefit of a minor league season.
This past year saw Hanrahan take on one of his most high-profile assignments, rehabbing Mitch Keller when the righthander was sent to Class AAA Indianapolis to rebuild his confidence and re-establish himself as a major league starter, and Hanrahan was a valuable resource helping players navigate that final step between the minors and big leagues.
He’s done it by not forgetting who he was as a player, but also resisting the urge to believe that’s how the work should always be done, continually learning more and updating his knowledge base and approach.
“I try not to lose sight of how hard the game is and how good the players are,” Hanrahan said. “They don’t really need a whole lot from us. It’s just a little thing here and there can turn a whole guy’s career around. I try not to get in the way of their career. I try to be there for them.”