Paul Skenes' latest quote on new pitching coach shows Pirates made a hire who gets it

When the Pirates made the decision to move on from pitching coach Oscar Marin, it was a major surprise, as his still-developing staff, fronted by the remarkable Paul Skenes, ranked seventh in MLB in ERA. Reports eventually came out that the pitchers involved communicated that they wanted a change during their exit meetings, leading to the Pirates to find a new pitching coach.

Pittsburgh hired former Astros coach Bill Murphy, a young mind that is following in the footsteps of legendary pitching coach Brent Strom. He performed well in Houston, but there's a lot of pressure involved in this job transition, leading to some concerns about the change.

After all, the Pirates' staff must be close to perfect with an MLB worst offense, and need to match or exceed what Marin put together. To justify moving on, the pitching staff should show signs of getting even better, and being top 10 in 2025 puts a lot of pressure on that notion.

Paul Skenes' quote about Bill Murphy makes Pirates fans feel even better about the hire.

Murphy seems to be really embracing this challenge and opportunity in Pittsburgh as more than just something that might look nice on a resume. Paul Skenes is one of those players a coach dreams about working with. Murphy now gets to collaborate with him and try to make him even better than his Cy Young form.

Pirates writer Stephen Nesbitt revealed a quote from Skenes this week that weighed his recent hiring concerns against the contrast of Murphy's arrival. Skenes worried that the Pirates would hire a coach that viewed this job as a "steppingstone" or a "resume builder" instead of a guy who wants to fulfill the special goal of building a championship squad in Pittsburgh.

Murphy actually called Skenes before getting hired, and Skenes expressed his feelings about working with someone who wasn't quite committed. Then, after Murphy landed the job, he called Skenes again, and the message he sent should fire up the fanbase.

“He told me he was that second guy,” Skenes recalled. “Talk is cheap, but he chose to come to Pittsburgh.”

That means Murphy is embracing the pressure, not running from it. He wants to build a championship squad in Pittsburgh, not coast off Skenes and go elsewhere. While that should be the case for any coach with any team, he had a solid team in Houston and occupied the same position. He left that strong group to be in Pittsburgh, showing how much he wants to do it here.

Like Skenes said, talk is definitely cheap, and words mean nothing if there aren't results on the field. Murphy has big shoes to fill after the departure of Marin, who just landed a job with a division rival. Still, Skenes appears confident in Murphy's mindset, so maybe we should feel that way, too.