Tuesday, November 10

Welcome to another November edition of the Pirates Beat newsletter. This week, beat reporter Aiden Stepansky caught up with the Pirates’ new director of amateur scouting, Justin Newman, in his first interview since his recent internal promotion to run the Draft.

PITTSBURGH -- Justin Newman began a formal interview process for the Pirates' director of amateur scouting job around mid-September. But with a decade of experience already in the organization, he’d been informally working toward the position for years.

“It's always something that I had my eye on to some degree, and I think it maybe came more into focus for me over the last year or so,” Newman told MLB.com Monday. 

Newman, 31, was promoted in October to lead the Pirates’ Draft process. Assistant general manager Kevan Graves filled the role in 2026.

With a background in quantitative analysis and research and development, Newman brings a unique perspective to the position. He now leads a team with recent success stories in the Draft, from adding cornerstones like Paul Skenes and Konnor Griffin along with up-and-coming prospects like Seth Hernandez (the Pirates' No. 1 prospect and No. 9 in baseball, per MLB Pipeline) and Murf Gray (Pirates' No. 4, MLB No. 89).

“I think to get to lead a group of people that are already operating at such a high level, not everyone stepping into these kinds of roles gets that opportunity,” Newman said. “A lot of times, you might get this kind of opportunity because something wasn't going well before. And we're starting off at such a high point, a high standard for me to live up to.”

Newman joined the Pirates in 2017 as a baseball informatics intern after graduating from the University of Rochester. His various posts in the organization have given him different angles on the Draft process, moving closer to the decision-making each time. 

Pittsburgh interviewed external candidates for the position before landing on Newman. The conversations focused less on getting to know Newman and more on how he would approach a role with significantly different responsibilities. Newman’s most recent job as the director of player analysis put him in charge of a “handful of people.” He now oversees more than two dozen. 

“I think for me the biggest change is I've been super involved in the Draft to date, but now it's a totally different vantage point of trying to think about how we best develop our people and bring in really good people and set up a process that allows us to have sustainable success, as opposed to being an input to the process or a part of the process before,” Newman said.

Baseball’s evolving scouting landscape has changed the role of traditional scouts, but Newman still considers them essential.

He described the scouts as “the core of what we do,” while noting the job is different than when he broke in. Newman pointed to several times over the past few years when a scout’s relationship with a player allowed Pittsburgh to sign a player that other teams had thought unsignable.

“My lens isn't in scouting, so I'm not going to be on the road constantly the same way that maybe some or most scouting directors really are,” Newman said. “... So I think leadership for me looks a little bit different in this role. And I think as much as I'm not going to be mentoring our scouts in the kind of eyeball-evaluation piece of it, I'm going to be learning from them as much as I'm probably giving them on that side of it, [while] trying to get to a spot where I can help grow their understanding of how we're making decisions and the broader evaluation space and what we're valuing at the Major League level.”

Skenes has a 17.1 bWAR with the Pirates since he debuted three seasons ago after his selection as the top pick in the 2023 MLB Draft. Which homegrown Pittsburgh pitcher leads the way in career bWAR with the Pirates since 1970?

A. Gerrit Cole

B. John Candelaria

C. Kent Tekulve

D. Paul Skenes

Nature has become Bill Murphy’s escape. The Pirates’ pitching coach and New Jersey native has made trips to North America’s top national parks, from Yosemite and Yellowstone to Zion and Banff.

With the 2026 season in the rearview, Murphy returned to his outdoor passion on a family trip to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and Grand Teton National Park. There, he observed moose and buffalo and honed in on his passion for photography. It was a valuable getaway.

“You try to unwind and separate yourself from the baseball season after the season's over and reflect and see what you can do better,” Murphy said.

Murphy spoke exclusively with MLB.com over the phone last week, fresh off his trip and a month removed from his first season as the Pirates’ pitching coach. More >>

B. John Candelaria

Candelaria posted a 32 bWAR with the Pirates, becoming a fan favorite and earning the nickname “Candy Man.” Cole has surpassed Candelaria’s career total with 45.8 bWAR but had only 11 bWAR in Pittsburgh before performing for Houston and the New York Yankees. Tekulve had a 19.7 bWAR with the Pirates, and Skenes, as stated above, still has a ways to go but is off to a hot start.

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