A day after news broke of the Pirates hiring the Rays’ former director of pitching development, they made another noteworthy, outside-the-box move Tuesday by bringing in Caitlyn Callahan as a development coach who’ll be based out of Pirate City in Bradenton, Fla.
Callahan, who played college softball at St. Mary’s and Boston University, will be the first uniformed female coach in franchise history.
Neither hire has been announced by the Pirates but was confirmed by a team source. Callahan also posted on social media that she had accepted the position, making her one of only about two dozen women coaching in the major or minor leagues.
Callahan had been with the Reds, where she worked as a minor league video and technology intern since February 2020, according to her LinkedIn page.
Among the other experience listed is baseball operations assistant with the Staten Island Yankees; time spent as a scout liaison; and also an assistant strength and conditioning coach at the high school level.
Late Monday night/early Tuesday morning, word leaked that the Pirates made three hires in player development: Dewey Robinson, a bigwig in minor league pitching development with the Rays and Astros; Dan Meyer to succeed Joel Hanrahan as Class AAA Indianapolis’ pitching coach; and Chris Truby as a minor league infield instructor, Pittsburgh plucking him from the Phillies.
The Pirates are expected to formally announce these and more changes to their minor league coaching and development staffs, something that could potentially happen before Christmas.
Callahan will follow the paths of Alyssa Nakken and Bianca Smith, who both blazed trails to uniformed positions.
Last July, Nakken became the first woman to coach on the field in an MLB game, as she worked as first-base coach in an exhibition contest for the Giants against the Athletics. Nakken’s title is officially a major league assistant coach.
Smith, a Sewickley native, was hired by the Red Sox in January 2021 and became the first Black woman to coach in the history of professional baseball. Similar to Callahan, Smith is titled as a minor league coach and based out of Boston’s spring training facility in Fort Myers, Fla.
“Excited to announce that I’ve accepted a position with the Pittsburgh Pirates as a Development Coach,” Callahan wrote on Instagram. “I was beyond impressed with all the coaches, staff and players I met and I am looking forward to being a part of this organization.
“Cannot wait to move to Florida in a few weeks and get to work with the rest of the team. Go Pirates!”
Jason Mackey: jmackey@post-gazette.com and Twitter @JMackeyPG.
First Published: December 22, 2021, 2:59 a.m.