24-06-2025
Wake Forest to hire Astros pitching coordinator Eric Niesen: Source
Wake Forest will hire alumnus and Houston Astros director of pitching Eric Niesen as the school's new pitching coach, a source told The Athletic on Tuesday afternoon.
Niesen, 39, will replace Corey Muscara, whom Duke hired as its new head coach last week. Niesen will reunite with Wake Forest head coach Tom Walter, for whom he worked as a student assistant coach during the 2017 season.
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Niesen pitched at Wake Forest from 2005-07 before beginning a 10-year professional playing career, six of which took place in affiliated ball. The New York Mets drafted Niesen in the third round of the 2007 draft.
He joined the Astros' organization in 2021 as a minor-league pitching coach before becoming their director of pitching last November. The role required Niesen to oversee Houston's entire heralded pitching infrastructure. Niesen made frequent visits to all of the Astros' minor-league affiliates and, every now and then, would join the major-league coaching staff in an advisory role for a series or two.
According to a team source, Niesen will remain with the Astros through the MLB Draft on July 13-14.
