Pirates Finalize 2026 Coaching Staff With Five New Hires

It’s a full reset for the 2026 Pittsburgh Pirates, who have now finalized their staff under manager Don Kelly.

Only eight coaches will remain from last year’s Pirates staff, which was assembled under former manager Derek Shelton.

Headlining the list of returning coaches are first-base coach Tarrik Brock, hitting coach Matt Hague and bullpen coach Miguel Perez.

Kelly’s 15-man staff was announced in full on Thursday afternoon. The hires include Tarrik Brock as first base coach, Jordan Comadena as catching coach, Raul Hernandez as the bullpen catcher, Christian Marrero as assistant hitting coach, Stephen Morales as translator and assistant coach, Miguel Perez as the bullpen coach, and Johnny Tucker as an assistant hitting coach.

Don Kelly has announced his 2026 coaching staff with the addition of five new members. pic.twitter.com/Ni1RHKrduL

— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) December 18, 2025

A statement from Kelly accompanied the staff announcement.

“We have talked a lot as an organization about being better on and off the field. We are constantly working on measures that will allow us to take our game to the next level,” Kelly said. “We believe this group will help us accomplish that. We have added some unique perspectives, postseason experience and success, and an enormous amount of baseball knowledge to our staff. I am excited to navigate the 2026 season with this group.”

The pitching staff is made up of two former Houston Astros staffers in Bill Murphy and Thomas Whitsett.

Murphy climbed the ranks of the Astros farm, starting as a Rookie Ball coach with the team in 2016. By 2019, he was the Astros’ pitching coordinator, and by 2021, he was an assistant pitching coach on the Major League team.

Whitsett, Murphy’s fellow Astros staffer, will be coaching his first Major League team. He started his career with Houston in 2022 and was the pitching coordinator for Triple-A Sugar Land by 2023. He had been the pitching coach at Sugar Land for the last two seasons and now inherits the best arm in baseball in Paul Skenes.

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