One day after dismissing Derek Shelton as manager, the Pirates relieved game planning and strategy coach Radley Haddad of his duties Friday, a source told MLB.com. The club has not confirmed the move.
Haddad was in his fourth season with the organization, joining in 2022. He took part in several parts of game prep, primarily on the pitching and run prevention side, and trying to incorporate findings from the analytics department into development and game execution.
Prior to coming to Pittsburgh, Haddad had spent five years with the Yankees as a coaching assistant and bullpen catcher.
Haddad’s dismissal is part of previously hinted at adjustments to the coaching staff under new manager Don Kelly. General manager Ben Cherington had his first conversation with Kelly about managing the team Thursday, so some changes were going to be expected to support a coaching staff that currently does not have a bench coach.
“I wouldn't be surprised if we have some adjustments to make sure we're supporting Donnie and the entire team as best we possibly can for the remainder of 2025,” Cherington said. “It's very important to me and very important to Donnie to make sure he's in a position to do that manager's job and not do the job he was just doing. So we need to make sure we're reallocating all of the bench coach duties somehow in another direction. I expect we'll have more clarity on that in a couple days.”