Jake Mangum blames his family’s football mentality for his aggressive approach at the plate, where he has a well-earned reputation for swinging at nearly every pitch within six inches of the strike zone.

Mangum’s father, uncle and grandfather all played professional football so after making his major league debut as a 29-year-old outfielder, Mangum reasoned that the best way to make an immediate impact was with contact and using elite sprint speed to get on base and create havoc.

“I’ve just never liked striking out. I hate it. There is nothing more that I hate doing than striking out,” Mangum said Wednesday on a video conference call. “If there’s two strikes and I can just touch it, you have an opportunity to get on first base, and I can steal second base and the guy behind me drives me in. Or if you reach on a fielding error, you reach first base and get to second on a passed ball. There’s just different ways to help the team win. I know striking out is not one of them. For whatever reason, I was just never ok with it.”

As immediate impacts go, Mangum’s introduction made quite the impression, especially on social media. After being acquired from the Tampa Bay Rays, along with two-time All-Star second baseman Brandon Lowe and left-handed reliever Mason Montgomery on Dec. 19, Mangum was quick to ingratiate himself to Pittsburgh Pirates fans. His post on social media about being “absolutely fired up” to play for the Pirates has drawn nearly 400 comments and 530,000 impressions.

In an interview that exceeded 30 minutes, Mangum called it “freaking the coolest thing ever” that the Pirates, Steelers and Penguins all wear black and gold uniforms. He corrected himself for using y’all instead of yinz. He loved the Primanti Bros. concept of combining a sandwich and French fries. And he vowed to help the Pirates become a winner.

“They all want a team that makes the city proud,” Mangum said. “I can’t promise I’m going to go in and hit .350 with a 900 OPS, but what I can promise is I’m going to do everything I possibly can to be the best version of myself and help the team win baseball games. From what I can see, the fans are really, really wanting that, and a big thank you to the Pirates for believing in me to help that cause.”

Where his grandfather John Magnum Sr. played defensive tackle for the Boston Patriots of the AFL, his father John was a cornerback for the Chicago Bears and uncle Kris Mangum a tight end for the Carolina Panthers, Jake knew by ninth grade that his future was on the baseball diamond. He starred at Mississippi State, where he broke the SEC all-time hits record and became known as the Mayor of Starkville.

Despite being drafted twice – in the 30th round by the New York Yankees in 2017 and the 32nd round by the New York Mets a year later – Mangum played all four years. He was drafted in the fourth round by the Mets in 2019 but missed the following season because of the covid-19 pandemic. So Mangum was 25 by the time he played his first full pro season, then spent two-plus years at Triple-A Durham where he batted .317/.357/.442 in 2024.

It was no surprise that Mangum proved he could hit in the majors – he batted .296/.330/.368 in 118 games for the Rays last season – but more than a quarter of his came on infield singles, with his 32 tying Trea Turner for the MLB lead. Mangum sprinted 29.1 feet per second, which ranked in the 91st percentile, then caused chaos by stealing 27 bases. No wonder he was the Rays’ nominee for the Heart and Hustle Award.

“Mangum’s just a ballplayer, man, in every sense of the word,” Lowe said. “He’s an older rookie, an older young guy to be in the league. But I would be hard-pressed to find somebody with more heart and more drive to want to give you everything that he has than Mangum. He’s going to run hard on every single play; doesn’t matter if he chops it back to the pitcher or if he hits it off the wall. It feels like he’s going to give you the same amount of effort on everything. And he’s going to play an unbelievable outfield when he’s out there. If last year was any cue to what he’s going to do, that means he’s going to hit .300, he’s going to steal a lot of bags, and he’s going to be a heck of a piece in this lineup.”

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What Mangum wants to improve upon is his patience and pitch selection. He had the lowest chase rate (43.7%) in baseball, per Baseball Savant, and ranked in the third percentile in walk percentage (4.4). Although he had 18 doubles, Mangum also wants to show more pop after hitting only three home runs and 40 RBIs.

“Being a non-prospect older rookie, I needed to get going immediately. I thought the biggest strength of mine was contact and running fast, so I did that to the best of my ability,” Mangum said. “Now that I have a year of experience under my belt this offseason, we’re grinding to try to get into some more hitter’s counts, getting to some counts where I can drive pitches. Hammering those pitches that you have an idea are coming. That’s what we’re working on this offseason: Strengthening what I do well and expand on what I need to work on.”

The Pirates plan to utilize the 6-foot, 190-pound Mangum’s speed and range – he had six Outs Above Average last season – to cover ground in the spacious left and center fields at PNC Park. Pirates general manager Ben Cherington noted that Mangum provides a different look with his style of play – calling it “pest-oriented, for lack of a better word” – that complements Oneil Cruz and Bryan Reynolds and provides flexibility.

Coincidentally, Mangum has ties to the last Pirates left fielder to win a Gold Glove. Corey Dickerson did so in 2018, after being acquired from the Rays. A McComb, Miss., native, Dickerson coached at Jackson Academy – the rival to Mangum’s alma mater, Jackson Prep, which also produced Pirates top prospect Konnor Griffin – before accepting a job as outfield coach for the Rays two days before Mangum was traded.

“I was talking to Corey like, fired up to get to work with you. And then I get traded and I call Corey and I’m like, ‘Dude, we can’t work together but what do you got on Pittsburgh?’” Mangum said. “He spoke amazing things about Pittsburgh, kind of gave me the rundown on what I needed to know. He joked, ‘I got a Gold Glove when I went to Pittsburgh. Maybe you can do the same thing, too.’”

First, Mangum has to win a spot on the active roster and crack the starting lineup for the Pirates. They are expected to have competition in left field with Mangum, Jack Suwinski and top-100 prospect Jhostynxon Garcia, who was acquired from the Boston Red Sox.

Mangum said he heard from team president Travis Williams, Cherington, manager Don Kelly and hitting coach Matt Hague, who told him they want him to showcase his skill set by playing the same style of baseball with a focus on contact, baserunning and good defense.

“As far as what they want from me, they said, ‘Play your game.’ They said, ‘We watched you play last year. We love what you do. We want you to continue to do it,’” Mangum said. “They were very welcoming to the idea of me trying to expand on what I consider low-hanging fruit that I need to improve on.”