The rest of Joe Espada’s staff was previously reported. Victor Rodriguez comes over from the Padres as hitting coach, with Anthony Iapoce as his assistant. Dan Hennigan has officially been hired as director of hitting/offensive coordinator, which GM Dana Brown announced in addition to Iapoce’s hiring.
Josh Miller will be the team’s lone lead pitching coach after serving in that role alongside Bill Murphy for the past three seasons. Murphy left last month to take the same job with the Pirates. Bench coach Omar Lopez, starting 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, leaves for Houston after five seasons as top pitching coach with the White Sox. He had previously worked in the minors with the Angels and Mariners and spent a year as an assistant pitching coach with the Giants. Chicago has had excellent seasons Dylan stops And Luke Giolito early in Katz’s tenure. They have predictably gone downhill since the rebuild began in 2022. Only the Angels, Athletics, Nationals and Rockies have a higher ERA than the White Sox at 4.61 over the past three seasons.
The Sox parted ways with Katz at the end of the ’25 campaign. Second-year manager Will Venable brought in Royals assistant Zach Bove as their new pitching coach. Cossins, who will collaborate with Yainer Diaz and most likely an outside asset behind the plate, has spent the past seven seasons with the Orioles as a catching instructor/field coordinator. He was fired in May 2025 when the Orioles fired manager Brandon Hyde.
#Astros #hire #Ethan #Katz #Assistant #Pitching #Coach