The Astros finalized their 2026 coaching staff. Ethan Katz has been hired as an assistant pitching coach, which was first reported by Chandler Rome of The Athletic. Houston also hired Tim Cossins as catching coach, a move that Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reported last week.
The rest of Joe Espada’s staff had been previously reported. Victor Rodriguez comes over from the Padres as hitting coach, with Anthony Iapoce tabbed as his assistant. Dan Hennigan has officially been hired as director of hitting/offensive coordinator, which GM Dana Brown announced alongside the Iapoce hiring.
Josh Miller will be the team’s sole lead pitching coach after jointly holding that role with Bill Murphy for the past three seasons. Murphy left to take the same job with the Pirates last month. Bench coach Omar Lopez, base coaches Dave Clark (first) and Tony Perezchica (third), quality assurance coach Jason Bell, and game planning coach Tommy Kawamura are back in their previous positions.
Katz, 42, heads to Houston after five seasons as the top pitching coach with the White Sox. He’d previously worked in the minors with the Angels and Mariners and spent one year as an assistant pitching coach with the Giants. Chicago got excellent seasons from Dylan Cease and Lucas Giolito early in Katz’s tenure. They’ve predictably gone downhill since kicking off a rebuild in 2022. Only the Angels, Athletics, Nationals and Rockies have a higher ERA than the White Sox’s 4.61 mark over the past three seasons.
The Sox parted ways with Katz at the end of the ’25 campaign. Second-year manager Will Venable tabbed Royals assistant Zach Bove as their new pitching coach. Cossins, who’ll work with Yainer Diaz and quite likely an outside acquisition behind the plate, has spent the past seven seasons with the Orioles as catching instructor/field coordinator. He was dismissed in May 2025 when the Orioles fired manager Brandon Hyde.
Suckers. Exactly what about his failed White Sox tenure convinced them he’d be good at anything except taking up oxygen?
His failed White Sox tenure is mostly b/c the Sox have the worst/cheapest ownership in the sport and haven’t signed a good free agent in like 20 years.
Even a good coach is going to have nothing to show for it on a crappy team. Astros are not stupid, they’ve had more success than any team other than the Dodgers in the past decade. I’m sure Katz will be fine, and must be elated to get away from a clownshow organization.
He’s moron, Trust me.
Don Cooper is that you?
Katz has been a mixed bag tenure for the Wsox overall.
Meh, he was really good for awhile, a breath of fresh air from old grouchy Don Cooper. Provided old familiar friend Giolito the confidence to realize his potential and allowed Rodon to thrive. Also numerous successful reclamation projects and fast tracked the development of the likes of Garrett and Dylan. Sure not everything worked, fatso Lance Lynn’s slide back into inconsistency and the angry ex Astro come to mind. But overall a successful run. Would happily revisit that 5 year stretch anytime
Ethan Katz jumped at the first demoted opportunity.
Interesting
Well, let’s hope the Astros pitching staff is good enough.