'Never take it for granted': Former Rutgers player makes MLB as Astros co-pitching coach

No matter the weather, Billy Murphy and the Houston Astros can count on a chilly reception when they take the field against the rival Bronx Bombers at Yankee Stadium.

But Murphy, the Houston Astros’ co-pitching coach and a Rutgers University graduate, knows he’ll receive much-warmer greetings from family and friends he’ll see at the ballpark or might find time to visit.

One of the youngest coaches in Major League Baseball, Murphy, who pitched at Rutgers, is in his fourth season on the Astros’ big-league coaching staff (ninth in the organization).

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He serves as the co-pitching coach with Josh Miller. In the bullpen during games (Miller is in the Astros’ dugout), Murphy has been a part of three consecutive American League West Division titles and the 2022 World Series championship Houston won against Philadelphia.

Murphy grew up in Union and resided in Cranford, when he was a standout shortstop and relief pitcher at Roselle Catholic High School before signing a national letter of intent to attend Rutgers University and play baseball for Hall of Fame Head Coach Fred “Moose” Hill. He pitched three seasons out of the bullpen for the Scarlet Knights from 2008-10.

“The best decision about going to Rutgers wasn’t playing baseball, but being around people like Glen Gardner, and learning from Glen Gardner,” Murphy said. Gardner, a two-time All-America player at Rutgers, worked 29 seasons as an assistant on the Scarlet Knight’s baseball staff.

“More than anything, I remember the people at Rutgers,’’ Murphy, 34, said.

After graduating a semester early from the State University with a degree in psychology and minor in history, Murphy played his final season at Wagner College, where he earned an MBA in management and played first base for the Staten Island, N.Y., school.

Murphy rapidly rose through the Astros' farm system, much like a highly-touted, minor league ballplayer, after his 2016 season at Greeneville and his 2017 at short-season Tri-City. He was promoted to pitching coach at Double-A Corpus Christi for 2018 before he was chosen to succeed Miller as the Astros’ minor-league pitching coordinator in 2019 and then promoted to the majors in 2021.

After coaching at his high school alma mater, Murphy was a volunteer assistant coach at Georgetown University a decade ago. Immediately before joining the Astros’ organization – he responded to a help wanted advertisement on social media – Murphy was toiling in the Ivy League as pitching coach at Brown University for the 2015 season.

The Astros will bring an uncharacteristic 12-22 record into Yankee Stadium, tied for fourth place in the American League West.

Murphy has already experienced many memorable moments in his big-league coaching career, especially in 2022, the same year he married Lindsy Walker in Jersey City.

During the ‘22 Fall Classic, Murphy watched from the visitor’s bullpen at Citizens Bank Park as the Houston pitching staff made history. Cristian Javier, Bryan Abreu, Rafael Montero and Ryan Pressly combined on a no-hitter for Houston in a 5-0 victory against the Phillies to deadlock a World Series the Astros went on to win and celebrated with a parade in Houston.

It was just the second no-hitter in the 118-year history of the World Series, the first since Don Larsen’s perfect game for the New York Yankees in 1956. It was only the third no-hitter in baseball’s postseason history, the second in 688 World Series games.

It was also the second combined no-hitter for the Astros in 2022. In front of some of Murphy’s family, friends and his fiance, Javier, Hector Neris and Pressly teamed to hold the rival Yankees hitless in a 3-0 victory on a sultry Saturday afternoon that June in The Bronx.

“The stadiums in New York City are electric,” Murphy said. “The New York teams have great fans and it’s just a great environment for baseball.”

Earlier in the 2022 playoffs, the energetic and enthusiastic reaction of the normally stoic Murphy in the Astros’ bullpen garnered some attention from the TBS camera after Yordan Alvarez blasted a two-out, game-winning, three-run homer to give the Astros an 8-7 win over the Seattle Mariners in Game 1 of the ALDS. Murphy's celebration was made into a reel found on MLB's Instagram page.

“I’m just constantly reminding myself of how lucky I am,” said Murphy, who sports jersey number 95. “I’m really thankful for the position I’m in. I try to never take it for granted.”

Especially not in front of the boisterous New York fans at Yankee Stadium.

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: NJ Baseball: Former Rutgers player now Astros co-pitching coach