Astros Interviewing Experienced Mentors for Opening Hitting Coach Job

The Astros have begun their search to find a new hitting coach and have interviewed two coaches who have held the position previously.

Jun 7, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates hitting coach Andy Haines (49) looks on at the batting cage before the game against he Minnesota Twins at PNC Park. | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

The 2025 season was the most disappointing in about a decade for the Houston Astros. They missed out on the playoffs and they are set to lose ace Framber Valdez to free agency this offseason. Not only that, but at season's end, the team shook up their coaching staff.

Among the departures were pitching coach Bill Murphy, who left for the Pittsburgh Pirates, as well as hitting coaches Alex Cintron and Troy Snitker and Michael Collins, who worked with catchers.

Houston has been working to re-work their staff and it seems their efforts are focused on the hitting coach position. According to reports from The Athletic's Chandler Rome on X (formerly Twitter) the Astros have interviewed former hitting coach Andy Haines as well as current San Diego Padres hitting coach, Victor Rodriguez.

Houston Talks to Coaches With Prior Experience

William Purnell-Imagn Images

The first name to be mentioned was current Padres hitting coach Victor Rodriguez. He has been with the Padres since the start of the 2024 season. According to MLB.com, in 2024 he helped coach San Diego to the lowest strikeouts as well as the most plate appearances per strikeout

In 2025, the Padres has the third lowest strikeout percentage in baseball (19.1 percent) and the seventh highest batting average (.252). Other than good contact and strikeout rates, the Padres were an otherwise middling offense statistically.

Under Rodriguez, they finished 14th in offensive fWAR (20.2), 18th in runs scored (702) and walk percentage (8.4 percent). The Padres were towards the bottom of the league in power as well, hitting the third fewest home runs.

In 2024 under Rodriguez, the Padres won three Silver Sluggers. Prior to his time with San Diego, he spent time as the assistant hitting coach with Cleveland and Boston.

Andy Haines was the second name reported and unlike Rodriguez, he has ties to manager Joe Espada. After working his way up through the minors, Haines landed a gig as the Chicago Cubs assistant hitting coach before becoming the hitting coach for the Milwaukee Brewers from 2019-2021 and the Pittsburgh Pirates from 2022-2024.

From 2008-15, Haines was a manager and coach in the Miami Marlins system where he and Espada overlapped when the current Astros manager was a hitting coach and infield coordinator.

Under Haines, the 2024 Pirates ranked 25th in homers (160), 24th in runs scored (665), fifth in strikeout percentages (24.7%) and 23rd in batting average (.234).

Houston clearly wants someone with experience at the big league level to fill the job. The Astros .714 team OPS was the 15th best in baseball under Snitker and Cintron and a change was due after a lackluster season.