Astros fans livid as club retains pitching coach Josh Miller in Joe Espada's 2024 staff: "Every pitcher regressed"

It will be a new era of baseball for the Houston Astros in 2024. Although much of the roster is expected to remain intact, the coaching staff is something that will look different to fans. After losing to the Texas Rangers in the ALCS, the Astros entered the offseason looking to revamp their coaching staff.

The first big headline came when MLB legend Dusty Baker announced his retirement, which led to an opening for the manager position. To fill this vacancy, the Houston Astros opted to promote Joe Espada from the team's bench coach to their manager.

As Joe Espada became the Astros' new manager, the club later announced that Omar Lopez was set to become the new bench coach for the team. Dave Clark was also hired to become the team's new first base coach.

For the most part, the changes that were made to Joe Espada's staff have gone over well with fans, except for one.

That would be Josh Miller, who is slated to return as the club's pitching coach for the 2024 campaign. This announcement was met with disdain among fans, with many pointing out that a number of the club's pitchers regressed last season. Last season, the Houston Astros pitching staff saw their numbers rise across most statistical categories.

Team Pitching Stats	2022	2023
ERA	2.90	3.94
WHIP	1.09	1.28
Strikeouts	1,524	1,460

Some fans are disappointed to see Josh Miller return as Houston's pitching coach, saying that it was an opportunity to pursue another option on the open market.

The Houston Astros may need to make serious roster decisions this offseason

Now that it appears that Joe Espada's coaching staff is all set for the 2024 season, the focus will need to shift to the roster. Although it is expected that much of the roster will remain the same as last season, the club will need to make some serious decisions when it comes to some long-time veterans.

Houston will need to decide whether or not they will re-sign some of their current unrestricted free agents, including Michael Brantley, Martin Maldonado, and Hector Neris. However, one of their biggest decisions may involve All-Star third baseman, Alex Bregman.

Alex Bregman is set to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the 2024 season, and it remains to be seen whether or not Houston will extend him to a long-term deal. This could lead to the club opting to trade him away while he is still under team control. Things could get interesting in Houston sooner rather than later.