Pirates' new pitching coach hire officially following in mentor's footsteps

When the Pirates fired Oscar Marin, it was really difficult to envision what the plan was at pitching coach. Marin had done an excellent job with Pittsburgh's staff, leading and coaching up one of the best starting rotations in all of baseball. But, according to offseason rumors and exit interviews, the pitchers themselves believed they could be better, all but requesting a coaching change.

Earlier this week, it was reported that the Pirates had found their man, hiring Bill Murphy to become the new pitching coach in Pittsburgh. Right off first glance, it appears to be a really strong upgrade, as his staff in Houston has consistently been great every year since he joined the club in 2021 as an assistant and became the main coach in 2022, accounting for 91.6 total fWAR, the third-highest total in that span. They also were second-lowest in ERA in that duration, so Murphy evidently knows how to manage a staff.

Pirates new hire in Bill Murphy is officially following path that mentor Brent Strom went down.

Murphy was mentored by a notable coach, too, in Brent Strom, the Pirates' assistant pitching coach in 2025 who recently departed the role. Strom was the Astros pitching coach in 2017 when they won the World Series and was with them to kick off their dominant stretch. The pair worked together in 2021, and Strom was crucial in developing Murphy into the coach he is today.

Murphy is completely following his mentor by joining the Pirates, just a few weeks the team announced that Strom was leaving the organization. Murphy is following a path that Strom went down, and while it didn't last very long for the veteran in Pittsburgh, maybe the 36-year-old coach can make his time in Pittsburgh last a long time.

While the hire makes sense to improve the pitching staff, it is also interesting that Don Kelly is not messing around with his team in the dugout. Kelly and Murphy worked together in Houston when Kelly was the first base coach there.

There really isn't much for Kelly and the coaching staff to work with in the dugout, so going after the best coaches in baseball is definitely a good area to help the team to find success. Thanks to Strom and his great coaching career, he has set the Pirates up with an even stronger future for the pitching staff.