The Pittsburgh Pirates today named John Baker their Director of Coaching & Player Development. The announcement was made by General Manager Ben Cherington.
The 39-year-old Baker spent the last five years in the Baseball Operations department of the Chicago Cubs, where he worked as an assistant in 2016 before spending three years as their Mental Skills Coordinator. In 2020, Baker served as the MLB Head Applied Mental Skills Coach.
“We are excited to add John to our baseball operations leadership team,” said Cherington. “John’s experience as a player, his training and experience as a mental skills coach for a highly successful franchise, and his continued learning in the areas of skill acquisition and human performance, give him valuable perspective on the entire player improvement and performance process. John will work closely with our minor league staff and players to help lead our player development program.”
The former catcher spent seven seasons playing in the Major Leagues with the Marlins (2008-2011), Padres (2012-13) and Cubs (2014). In 359 career games, he produced a .247 batting average, a .330 OBP, 14 home runs and 120 RBI.