yahoo
Multiple reports on Tuesday, October 20, indicate that Spencer Medick, who was slated to serve as the pitching coach for the New York Yankees' Triple-A affiliate in 2026, will instead join the Houston Astros as their new director of pitching.
Medick, 35, originally joined the Yankees organization in 2022 as the pitching coach for the Single-A Hudson Valley Renegades. He held the same position with the Florida Complex League Yankees in 2023, returned to Hudson Valley in 2024, and then became the bullpen coach for the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders in 2025.
After another season with the RailRiders, Medick will move to a new organization in a non-uniformed role. Last season, the RailRiders posted the fourth-best earned-run average and strikeouts per nine innings rates in the International League.
The Astros have undergone a significant front-office shakeup in 2026. They dismissed general manager Dana Brown in August and manager Joe Espada in October after the team finished 81-81, won the American League West, and were swept in a best-of-three wild-card series by the Chicago White Sox.
Behind the scenes, Houston has reduced its full-time analytics staff since its streak of seven consecutive American League Championship Series appearances from 2017 to 2024, a period that included two World Series titles.
Medick's hiring suggests the organization will continue to prioritize data-driven decision-making in its personnel moves for 2027. Before joining the Yankees, Medick worked as a throwing trainer at Driveline Baseball from 2019 to 2021. He pitched professionally from 2014 to 2018, including one season of affiliated baseball with the Arizona Diamondbacks' summer league team.
Houston has not yet officially named a general manager, but the group around the position is already taking shape.
Originally reported by yahoo.