The Pittsburgh Pirates today announced that Mike Rabelo will be joining Manager Derek Shelton’s staff as the Assistant Hitting Coach for the 2020 season. The announcement was made by General Manager, Ben Cherington.

The 39-year-old Rabelo spent the 2019 season in the Detroit organization as the manager for Double-A Erie, where he led the SeaWolves to a 77-61 overall record, including a 46-26 mark following the Eastern League All-Star break.

Rabelo has recorded a 358-274 record as a manager in six seasons at the minor league level (all in the Detroit organization), posting winning records in all but one season. During the 2017 campaign, he earned Midwest League Manager-of-the-Year honors after his West Michigan Whitecaps team posted a league-best 91 wins.

Prior to his role as a manager, Rabelo served as a coach for the GCL Tigers in 2011 and with the Connecticut Tigers of the New York-Penn League for two seasons (2012-13).

Rabelo played professionally for 10 seasons after being selected by Detroit in the fourth round of the 2001 First-Year Player Draft. He also played parts of three seasons in the big leagues as a catcher with Detroit (2006-07) and Florida (2008).

The 2020 Major League Coaching staff is as follows:
Bench: Don Kelly
First Base: Tarrik Brock
Third Base: Joey Cora
Hitting: Rick Eckstein
Asst. Hitting: Mike Rabelo
Pitching: Oscar Marin
Bullpen: Justin Meccage
Coach: Glenn Sherlock
Coaching Assistant: Herbie Andrade
Bullpen Catcher: Jordan Comadena