"Murphy has been a coach in Houston's organization since 2016. He was first hired as a pitching coach for Rookie-level Greeneville. Murphy moved up to Single-A Tri-City in 2017, then to Double-A Corpus Christi the following season. He became an assistant pitching coach with the big league club in 2021, coincidentally working underneath Strom (then Houston's pitching coach) in his first season. Strom stepped down at the end of that year, so Houston elevated Murphy and Josh Miller to co-pitching coach positions."
"Houston's pitching staff hadn't missed a beat after Strom's departure. They lead MLB with a 3.61 earned run average over the past four seasons. Only the Braves have a higher strikeout rate over that stretch. They dropped to 11th in ERA this year but led MLB with a 24.9% strikeout percentage. No team got more swinging strikes. The Astros already had an excellent pitching staff by the time that Murphy and Miller took the lead positions."
"Murphy gets to work with an arguably even more talented group of arms in Pittsburgh. Paul Skenes is one of the few pitchers in baseball who is better than Brown. Bubba Chandler, Braxton Ashcraft and Mike Burrows might all be in the Opening Day rotation, while Jared Jones could be back from elbow surgery in the second half. Mitch Keller has tailed off late after stellar first halves in three straight years."
Bill Murphy is expected to be hired as the Pittsburgh Pirates' pitching coach, filling the vacancy left by Oscar Marin while assistant Brent Strom also departs. Murphy spent nine years in the Astros organization, advancing from Rookie-level Greeneville to co-pitching coach of the big league staff alongside Josh Miller. Houston's staff produced elite results, leading MLB in ERA and strikeout metrics during the past four seasons and producing Hunter Brown as an emerging ace. Pittsburgh offers a deep group of arms including Paul Skenes, Bubba Chandler, Braxton Ashcraft, Mike Burrows and the potential midseason return of Jared Jones. Mitch Keller has shown decline late in recent seasons.
Read at MLB Trade Rumors
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