Pirates’ new pitching coach marks important step in repairing players' trust

For once, the Pirates didn’t gaslight their own clubhouse. After a season full of little betrayals, nothing louder than the organization shrugging off hitters who said they literally couldn’t see the ball during certain PNC Park day games, the front office finally met its pitchers where they were: heard, and backed. 

Players had been hinting for months that Oscar Marin wasn’t getting them to their ceiling. Instead of doubling down, Pittsburgh went out and hired a teacher with a track record of extracting more, not making do. That’s not just a staff change; that’s relationship repair in action.

Pirates finally listen to players with Bill Murphy hire

It needed to happen. Earlier this year, multiple Pirates hitters requested the club paint the batter’s eye black to improve visibility during late-afternoon starts, a basic, league-standard fix in most parks, and the request was denied. That decision became a symbol of a bigger trust gap: players asked for help; the brand said no. The pitching side could’ve gone the same way. Instead, the Pirates hired Bill Murphy away from Houston, where he helped steer one of baseball’s best staffs in recent seasons.

Murphy’s résumé is the point. In Houston he rose from the lower minors to the big-league staff and co-piloted a machine that led MLB in ERA across the last four seasons, a tidy 3.61, while churning out impact arms and sustaining October standards. That’s process and communication as much as pitch design.

The Pirates, by contrast, lived in the league’s lower half over that span. For anyone who felt capped, the new voice isn’t an abstract culture shift; it’s proof the club will invest in squeezing every last bit of value out of your arsenal.

You can already hear the tone change around the edges. Reporting out of Pittsburgh framed this as player-driven: pitchers asked for a different direction, and the front office acted. That alone resets the dynamic. It tells the room that feedback can lead to outcomes, not just eye-rolls. And when the guy arriving comes from a place where tunnels, release-height manipulation, and plan-specific sequencing are table stakes, it signals a commitment to modern coaching rather than another seminar in “try harder.” 

Murphy spent nearly a decade inside an Astros engine that blends data and dialogue, first as a minor-league coach and pitching coordinator, then on the MLB staff since 2021. Houston’s track record isn’t just about velocity bumps; it’s about making average pitches play together like a symphony and turning good pitchers into problem solvers. 

That’s exactly the skill set Pittsburgh’s young rotation needs as the league adjusts to Paul Skenes and dares someone else to beat them. The Pirates didn’t swap instructors; they imported a system. 

Here’s the quiet win inside the headline: by listening to its pitchers after failing its hitters on something as basic as a batter’s eye, the club showed it can course-correct. Maybe that’s how a team that too often chooses the hard way finally picks the smart way, one well-chosen coach, one rebuilt relationship at a time.