Adam McCalvy, who covers the Milwaukee Brewers for MLB.com, is reporting that the Brewers have hired Jacob Cruz as their new assistant hitting coach. Cruz filled that same role this season for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Appears the Brewers have filled the vacancy on their coaching staff with former Pirates asst. hitting coach @JacobCruz09, who previously worked with Andy Haines in the Cubs system.
— Adam McCalvy (@AdamMcCalvy) November 12, 2019
The Pirates hired Cruz almost exactly one year ago today, following their hire of Rick Eckstein as the hitting coach. In his one season with the Pirates, they finished 19th in baseball with a .741 OPS. They were tied for fifth with a .265 batting average, but they were all the way down at 20th overall in runs scored.
The Pirates didn’t fire Cruz, unless that news didn’t come out. When they let pitching coach Ray Searage and bench coach Tom Prince go, they announced that all other coaches will be candidates to remain with the Pirates and that decision wouldn’t be made until after the managerial decision was made. It’s likely that Cruz jumped on the opportunity for a guaranteed job before that position was filled, instead of waiting to hear his fate under a new manager in Pittsburgh.