PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates have reportedly made a decision on who their new pitching coach is for next season.
Chandler Rome of The Athletic reported that the Pirates are hiring Houston Astros pitching coach Bill Murphy in the same role for the organization for 2026.
Murphy hails from Cranford, N.J. and played baseball for Roselle Catholic High School as a pitcher, before playing one year at Wagner as a first baseman.
He coached for both Georgetown and Brown at the Division I level, before joining the Astros ahead of the 2016 season as a rookie ball pitching coach, where he’s spent his entire coaching career at the MLB level with.
Murphy rose up through the ranks and eventually became the minor league pitching coordinator in 2019. He is bilingual and can speak Spanish, helping him communicate with the number of great pitchers from Latin America in the Astros organization.
He joined the Astros MLB staff as an assistant pitching coach for the 2021 season and then took over as a pitching coach after the campaign and spent four season in the role through 2025.
Feb 20, 2025; West Palm Beach, FL, USA; Houston Astros pitching coach Bill Murphy (95) poses for a photo at the Houston Astros media day. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-Imagn Images / Reinhold Matay-Imagn Images
Murphy helped an Astros pitching staff achieve great feats throughout his tenure, including the lowest ERA and the second-best K/9.
He also helped the Astros win the 2022 World Series Title, with the pitching staff leading the American League in both ERA (2.90), shutouts (18), WHIP (1.09) and opposing batting average (.212).
Murphy worked with the likes of Luis García, Cristian Javier, Ryan Pressly, José Urquidy, Framber Valdez and Justin Verlander, all of whom excelled under his tutelage and earned many honors and awards.
Murphy and Pirates manager Don Kelly were both in the Astros organization at the same time, but not at the MLB level, as Kelly was a first base coach with the franchise in 2019.
Jun 19, 2025; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates manager Don Kelly in the dugout in the fourth inning against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images / Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images
Former Pirates assistant coach Brent Strom was with the Astros for eight seasons from 2014-21 and also worked with Murphy during his tenure with Houston.
Murphy takes over from pitching coach Oscar Marin, who the Pirates let go after the 2025 season. Reports indicated that the Pirates pitchers wanted more from their coaching after last seasons.
The Pirates pitching staff had a great season, as they had the third least home runs allowed (153), fourth lowest WHIP (1.22), seventh lowest team ERA (3.76), the seventh least walks (473) and the eighth lowest opposing batting average (.236).
Pittsburgh also led the MLB in shutouts with 19, two more than both the two second place teams in the Detroit Tigers and Philadelphia Phillies, who had 17.
Paul Skenes is the best pitcher on the Pirates and is the front runner for the National League Cy Young Award.
Sep 16, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Paul Skenes (30) pitches against the Chicago Cubs during the third inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images / Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
Skenes posted the lowest ERA (1.97), tied for the fourth most strikeouts (216), the fourth lowest WHIP (0.95), the sixth lowest batting average (.199) and the 10th most innings pitched (187.2), plus the fifth best K/BB (5.14), seventh best K/9 (10.36) and ninth best BB/9 (2.01).
Murphy also has other top pitchers in veterans like Mitch Keller and Johan Oviedo, rookies in Braxton Ashcraft, Hunter Barco, Mike Burrows and Bubba Chandler, plus relievers in Justin Lawrence, Isaac Matson, Carmen Mlodzinski and Dennis Santana.