The Pittsburgh Pirates have found their next pitching coach.
According to multiple reports, the Pirates have hired Houston Astros pitching coach Bill Murphy to become the new leader of the Bucs pitching staff.
Astros reporter Chandler Rome was first to report the news.
Murphy, 36, spent the last 10 seasons in the Astros organization, winning two World Series championships. Murphy joined the big league staff in 2021 and spent the past four seasons as the co-pitching coach with Josh Miller.
Over the last four years, the Astros were one of baseball’s best staffs. The Astros made the playoffs each of the last eight seasons prior to 2025, missing for the first time since 2016, and won the 2022 World Series with Murphy guiding their pitching.
Murphy’s staff led baseball with a 3.61 ERA under his leadership. From 2021-25, Houston earned the third-best fWAR in the sport (91.6).
The Astros have incredible pitchers, including Framber Valdez, Hunter Brown, Bryan Abreu, and formerly Justin Verlander, Ryan Pressley, and others, but found ways to get the best out of them.
Pirates pitching finished seventh in ERA (3.76), tied sixth in hits allowed (7.8), tied for fifth in runs allowed (4.0), tied for fourth in WHIP (1.20), and. Third overall in home runs (153).
Led by Paul Skenes, Mitch Keller, Bubba Chandler, Braxton Ashcraft, and Johan Oviedo, the Pirates have arguably the best young rotation in baseball. Their bullpen needs tweaking, but has encouraging signs that it can be a strength.
The Pirates need to best position themselves with key offensive pieces.
They have to help Skenes and their young arms take the next step to play meaningful games in September and make the postseason for the first time in over a decade.
Murphy replaces Oscar Marin, whose contract was not renewed after the 2025 season. Assistant pitching coach Brent Strom and third base coach Mike Rabelo were also not retained.
Marin spent six seasons as the Pirates pitching coach under Derek Shelton and Don Kelly.
