Astros coaching staff exodus continues after departure of key pitching coach

After a truly disappointing 2025 season, it was a mortal lock that the Houston Astros were going to undergo changes this offseason at multiple levels of the organization. The only real question was whether or not owner Jim Crane was going to blame the top levels of his leadership structure or if he thought that injuries were the primary cause and that some minor moves would get the team back on track. General manager Dana Brown and manager Joe Espada ultimately survived, but the team decided to cull their coaching staff heading into the offseason. Unfortunately, those were not the only coaching departures Houston will now have to deal with.

Pitching coach Bill Murphy had been with the Astros organization since 2016 as a coach and he worked his way up to become a very highly regarded pitching guru alongside pitching coach Josh Miller. The Astros gained a reputation for being able to maximize pitchers under their purview and even revitalize careers, as was the case with Yusei Kikuchi in 2024. Of all the coaches on Houston's staff, Murphy's job seemed to be among the safest.

However, employment is a two-way street, and Murphy decided that it was time to move on and take on the challenge of leading a pitching staff himself. Late on Monday night, it was revealed that Murphy was indeed leaving the Astros to take the Pirates' head pitching coach job.

Astros lose pitching coach Bill Murphy to the Pirates as coaching staff makeover continues

It is certainly fair to wonder why Murphy would leave Houston to work for the Pirates, who are among the most dysfunctional organizations in all of baseball. However, it is hard to argue with the fact that he will be working with Paul Skenes, Bubba Chandler, and Jared Jones as the core of his rotation in Pittsburgh, even if the offense is hellishly under-supported by ownership.

In addition, this does feel like a good time to move on for Murphy. Framber Valdez is probably gone, and with so many injuries and question marks with the Astros' pitching staff, Murphy could easily conclude that he simply wanted more talent to work with.

Time will tell whether or not Murphy made the right choice, and he is certainly going to have his hands full in trying to get the Pirates to respectability. However, one thing is absolutely clear, and that is that the Astros' offseason plans need to start with an aggressive rebuilding of their coaching staff. If they want to attract real free agents to Houston again without throwing loads of money around, having the right coaches in place is where they need to start.