DK’s Daily Shot of Pirates: The new pitching coach

DK’s Daily Shot of Pirates: The new pitching coach

[Music] [Applause] there’s a new pitching coach, that individual might be, I very much mean this when I say it, the most important acquisition the team makes. And I am not again joking here, morning to you. Good Tuesday morning. I’m Dan Kvachovich of DK Pittsburgh Sports. This is Daily Shot of Pirates. It comes your way bright and early every weekday. I also offer daily shots on the Steelers and Penguins that I hope you’ll check out as well. Dodgers six, Blue Jays five in 18 innings last night in Los Angeles. That was game three. The Dodgers now have a two games to one lead on what one can only hope will be their latest championship, thanks almost entirely to a $350 million payroll, of which an enormous chunk of that goes to Freddy Freeman. He has a $162 million contract that was able to buy him away from the Braves. 57 million of that’s deferred. Sorry to be a buzzkill. That’s what I see when I see baseball. That’s what I hear when I hear baseball. It’s broken. And I’m sure it’s broken to the point that wow, I can’t even imagine that a fraction of our city would have watched any of this game, never mind staying up till 3:00 in the morning for its conclusion. But that’s okay because local fans get to ruminate on the new pitching coach. The name is Bill Murphy. The reputation is a very good one. He comes from the Astros and strikingly he comes in a wholly lateral move, meaning he was the pitching coach there, he’ll be the pitching coach here. And that organization in general has tended to be ahead of the curve in baseball in more ways than just banging on trash cans. Oscar Marine, who was just fired to create this opening, also came from Houston. And the other thing that the two have in common is that they’re known to have backgrounds in advanced analytics, in biomechanics, in all the stuff that the people inside the sport prioritize really everywhere and now more than ever unapologetically. His most recent work, of course, would have been the combined statistics of the Houston staff in the 2025 season. The Astros had a 3.86 team erra that ranked 11th in baseball. The Pirates had a 3.76 erra under Marine that was seventh best in the majors. So the Pirates were obviously better. The Pirates also had Paul skins. In fact, as I went through all of the the various team numbers of consequence, the Pirates were better. But I’ll say it again, they had skins, which is a great great thing to have to skew your statistics. Not that they or Marine or Skins himself don’t deserve the credit. It’s not like he doesn’t count. It’s just that it has a an outsized influence. So why do I say that this will be one of their main acquisitions? Well, I could come up with all kinds of cliches for how important it is to have that one guy and that can associate with everybody on the staff and these guys are going to be looking to Murphy with in all likelihood an uncommon eagerness since they were by every accounting part of the reason if not the reason that Marine was fired. But you know those guys are important and skins is paramount. So if those guys and skins feel that this guy is going to be an upgrade and they react as such and if he can legitimately help them that’s nice. But I’ve got something else to say in this and it’s really not at all a reflection on Murphy. My mind is wide open again. The resume is there. Let’s see how he does. rather it’s this whole lateral move thing. See what had to have happened here. And I I’m just guessing, but it’s got to be at least a 99.999% guess, is that the Pirates outpaid the Astros in some form or other. And we’ll have to see how that unfolds over time. meaning when I say that assistant coaches in baseball in general, coaches, we don’t know what their contracts are with very, very, very few exceptions. We don’t know when they’re signed, when they’re not signed, when they’ve expired, when they’re multi-year, when they’re one year. A lot of them are just one year. The overwhelming majority, in fact. But I mean, there isn’t like some kind of list or something that we can check. So, you know, money is usually your big arbiter in these things. And all I’m going to offer to this in this moment is that this is the only kind of acquisition that Cherington is comfortable out paying for, meaning coaches, instructors, scouts, and you’d better believe the analytics. And I’m just making a little notch here in the tree, figuratively speaking, so we can come back to it later in the winter when no meaningful players have been signed and remind you that this is just how he does business. But but like I said, let’s just we’ll just let it go for now. When we come back, J1Q. If you’re looking for a great dining experience, look no further than Northshore Tavern. Located directly across Federal Street from PNC Park, next door to Mike’s Beer Bar, Northshore Tavern is Pittsburgh’s home for Steak on a Stone. Enjoy your steak finished on a hot lava stone in front of you, where you ensure each piece is cooked to exactly your liking. or try their rotating selection of entre, hot sandwiches, salads, and burgers, all while enjoying the ambiance dedicated to the great players and history of the Pittsburgh Pirates all around you. Come see why everyone’s talking about Northshore Tavern and Steak on a Stone. It’s Gun Storage Check Week. Help prevent unwanted access to your firearms. No one wants their unsecured gun to be used in an accident, a suicide, or a crime. Use lock boxes, safes, and locks to secure your firearms. Learn more at gunstorage check.org. 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[Music] Today’s J1Q comes from Kevin who says, “DK, seeing how everything from this team paints a picture that they’re not going to raise payroll or go after big free agents, I’m sorry. Does that mean they might actually try a new hitting philosophy with mostly the same group? After 6 years of prioritizing pitch counts over driving mistakes, I’d have to be thinking that even Ben Cherington realizes it needs to change. What else could they possibly be talking about changing if they’re serious about winning in 2026? Don’t make me laugh again. through mostly internal improvements. I These are hard, man. These are hard cuz what you want to do what you want to do is take the question seriously, which is to say, don’t burst out laughing once and almost a second time upon reading them. but also to just be able to say something that sounds like some of the stuff that I say whenever I’m doing either the Steelers or the Penguins shows. Now, you know, those teams aren’t perfect. The Steelers are really feeling it right now. And the Penguins are off to a great start. They also aren’t perfect, but this like I don’t even know where to go with this because the way you laid this out is actually probably more accurate than even you intended it to be. You say, “Not going to raise payroll.” I’m with you on that. Not going to go after free agents. I spit out the figurative coffee. try a new hitting philosophy. No, no, you don’t try a new hitting philosophy and keep the entire hitting staff. Everybody’s here. Matt Heg’s not going anywhere. None of his assistants, none of his team, the hitting team, as Cherington called it upon assembling it. None of that’s changed. It’s the same guys. What would move them after committing not only to bringing these people in, but then also to keeping them after a historically horrendous season at the plate. one in which not a single player who holds a bat for a living improved and most in fact regressed. They decided to keep all of that. Why should any of this scenario that you just laid out be greeted with anything other than like riotous mocking Monty Python level laughter? That’s all it deserves. That’s and that’s all it’s going to get from me until it changes. And when I say it changes, I mean everything changes. I appreciate the question, Kevin. I gave it my best. I promise you. I appreciate everybody who listens to Daily Shot of Pirates and we will have another one of these tomorrow. [Music]

Let’s talk about Bill Murphy, the new pitching coach.

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