Report: Pirates Fire Pitching Coach After 2025 Season

Marin joined the Pirates as their pitching coach on Dec. 17, 2019, after serving as the bullpen coach for the Texas Rangers. He came on as a part of manager Derek Shelton and his coaching staff, who the Pirates fired on May 8 after a 12-26 start.

The Pirates promoted Don Kelly, their bench coach, to manager and Marin stayed on as the pitching coach through the remainder of this season.

This move comes just one day after the Pirates signed Kelly to an extension on Sept. 29 and is the first coaching staff decision for him as the future leader of the team.

It is also a surprising move for the Pirates, who had a strong year on the mound as a team. This includes the fourth lowest WHIP (1.22), seventh lowest team ERA (3.76), the seventh least walks (473) and the eighth lowest opposing batting average (.236).

The Pirates also led the MLB in shutouts with 19, two more than both the two second place teams in the Detroit Tigers and Philadelphia Phillies, who had 17.

Marin also served a role in helping Paul Skenes develop into one of the best pitchers in the MLB, including winning the National League Rookie of the Year in 2024, earning All-MLB First Team honors and finishing third in NL Cy Young Award voting.

Skenes had a great first full year at the MLB level, with the lowest ERA (1.97), tied for the fourth most strikeouts (216), the fourth lowest WHIP (0.95), the sixth lowest batting average (.199) and the 10th most innings pitched (187.2), plus the fifth best K/BB (5.14), seventh best K/9 (10.36) and ninth best BB/9 (2.01).

He started the All-Star game for the second season, the first pitcher to ever do that in their first two season in MLB history. He also made Pirates history, with his 216 strikeouts the most for a right-handed pitcher in the live-ball era (since 1920).

Skenes will likely go on and win the NL Cy Young Award, making him the first Pirates pitcher to do so since Doug Drabek in 1990 and the third Pirates pitcher ever, along with Vern Law in 1960.

Marin helped Mitch Keller earn an All-Star appearance in 2023 and worked with former closer David Bednar, who earned back-to-back All-Star nods in 2022 and 2023 and led the NL in saves in 2023.

He also worked with the incoming group of rookies the Pirates brought up this season, including Braxton Ashcraft, Hunter Barco, Mike Burrows and Bubba Chandler, who will vie for a spot on the starting rotation on Opening Day 2026.

The Pirates bullpen also showed great effectiveness this past season, with the likes of Justin Lawrence, Isaac Mattson, Carmen Mlodzinski and Dennis Santana.

This decision ends a six seasons with the Pirates for Marin, who will likely have suitors elsewhere in the MLB for positions this offseason.

Brent Strom, the Pirates assistant pitching coach, is still currently in his role, but Kelly will likely make more staff changes in the coming days.