VANCOUVER – Another member of the UBC baseball program is joining the MLB ranks as former player turned coach Justin Orton has accepted a position with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Orton, who concluded his playing career with the Thunderbirds in 2018, has been hired as a development coach for the Pirates organization and will be primarily based in the Dominican Republic to work with Pittsburgh's prospects playing in the Dominican Summer League (DSL).

"It's definitely been a lifetime goal of mine to get into professional baseball," said Orton who found a passion for coaching once his playing career was done. "UBC was able to give me that opportunity and I'm fortunate enough to have this chance to now be in professional baseball. Words are tough to find, but I'm very thankful and appreciative."



"I'm very happy for Justin and this exciting new opportunity he has with the Pittsburgh Pirates," said UBC baseball director Terry McKaig. "As a Thunderbird player he led by example and always brought it when it came to his dedication to the game. After graduation, Justin was instrumental in helping launch our Player Performance initiative and also assisted with the varsity team. He has brought the same intensity and dedication to coaching as he did as a player for us.  He understands using technology to coach is the future for baseball and it's here to stay. At the end of the day, I think that is what the Pittsburgh Pirates organization saw and why they think Justin is a good fit."

After playing four seasons for the T-Birds, Orton transitioned into a coaching role with the UBC Thunder youth program which competes in the BC Premier Baseball League.



Working with state-of-the-art tracking technologies, the Essex, Ontario native will use many of the same systems with the Pirates he first learned and taught with at UBC.

"I was very fortunate with UBC to have all this technology," said Orton. "I'm a big believer in being a forever learner and I thought 'what did I miss as a player, what would have helped me get better, what would I like?' So I started individualizing plans based on the data that our technology was giving us. (With Pittsburgh) it'll be my task to leverage certain technologies to individualize players' development plans and then track those plans, give knowledge to coaches on certain technology, how to use it and find efficiencies."



"You get a guy that has the passion for baseball and the game that Justin has, combined with his work ethic and an almost obsession with learning the baseball swing and he's developed into a real incredible hitting coach," said UBC head coach Chris Pritchett who oversaw Orton's final three years as a player. "The main thing that's different now than a few years ago is the need at the pro level for being able to use not only your knowledge of baseball but also the technology that's helping guys hone their swing. Justin's got a lot of experience at both and the Pittsburgh Pirates thought he'd make a good addition to their staff. We're very proud of what we're able to offer our players and obviously when they get an opportunity that is an advancement of course we're going to miss them here and we're sad for that but we're always doubly happy for them getting that kind of an opportunity."



It's a whole new world of analytics and body movement technology and Orton is getting in on the ground floor. For that to have all started at UBC, he's incredibly grateful.

"The mentors and coaches I had played such a big role in my life, I wanted to do the same thing for others," said Orton of why he decided to get started on the coaching side of the game. "All organizations are born from a compelling story and I think that helps you understand your values; honesty, integrity, respect, and be able to build from that. I wanted to give back because UBC taught me all those values and I like the direction the program is going, it's a great culture."

"To have a coach of ours be hired by a Major League Baseball organization is something we are very proud of," added McKaig. "We pride ourselves on having the UBC Baseball brand give our players and coaches a first class experience while they are with us. Seeing Justin get this opportunity to further his coaching career in professional baseball is very gratifying and we are very proud of him."