The Pirates have announced additions to their coaching staff heading into the 2026 season.
Pirates Manager Don Kelly and General Manager Ben Cherington announced Kristopher Negron will serve as Kelly’s bench coach.
Negron was the Seattle Mariners third base coach last seen and the first base coach for three years before that.
Before joining the Mariners, Negron was the manager of the Seattle Triple-A affiliate in Tacoma, WA, winning a division Triple-A West championship in 2021.
Former Houston Astros pitching Coach Bill Murphy will take over the same role for the Pirates.
The Astros staff had an MLB-leading 3.61 staff ERA over his four years in Houston.
“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,” said Kelly in a release. “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.”
Tony Beasley returns at the team’s third base coach, Chris Truby returns as the team’s infield coach and Shawn Bowman, the former manager of the Triple-A Indianapolis Indians is now the Major League Field Coordinator.
Other coaches returning include:
Tarrik Brock – First Base Coach
Jordan Comadena – Catching Coach
Matt Hague – Hitting Coach
Raul Hernandez – Bullpen Catcher
Christian Marrero – Assistant Hitting Coach
Stephen Morales – Translator and Assistant Coach
Miguel Perez – Bullpen Coach
Jonny Tucker – Assistant Hitting Coach
The Pirates will report to Spring Training in February.