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Former Pirate Bell returns as batting coach

The Pittsburgh Pirates named Jay Bell as their hitting coach Wednesday.

The team also announced additional coaching moves on manager Clint Hurdle's staff. Rick Sofield will become first-base coach and Dave Jauss a major-league coach. Former first-base coach Luis Silverio moves to senior advisor of Latin American operations.

Bell, 46, is coming home to replace Greg Ritchie in Pittsburgh, where he played from 1989 to 1996 during an 18-year career as a player. The .265 lifetime hitter was working as a hitting coach in the Arizona Diamondbacks' organization.

Sofield, 55, managed the Pirates' Class A affiliate in the South Atlantic League in 2012.

Jauss, 55, was a special assistant to Pirates general manager Neal Huntington this past season. He previously served as a bench coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Baltimore Orioles and New York Mets.