Diamondbacks hire Brent Strom as pitching coach after eight-year run with Astros
During Brent Strom's eight-year run as the pitching coach for the Houston Astros, he worked with the likes of Gerrit Cole, Justin Verlander and Zack Greinke. He'll now take on a new assignment that will likely be significantly more difficult.
Rosenthal soon confirmed the announcement that the Arizona Diamondbacks and Strom agreed to terms on a deal.
When Strom took over as the Astros pitching coach in 2014, the team hadn't made the playoffs in eight straight years and lost over 100 games in three consecutive seasons, including 2013 when the Astros went an abysmal 51-111. Houston improved to 70-92 the next season, made the playoffs at 86-76 in 2015 and just missed out on extra baseball with an 84-78 mark in 2016.
Under manager A.J. Hinch and then Dusty Baker in 2020 and 2021, the Astros have put together a five-year stretch in which they've made three World Series appearances, including a title win in 2017. Houston had a pair of AL Cy Young Award winners during Strom's stay as well: Dallas Keuchel in 2015 and Verlander in 2019.
Verlander finished second in the 2018 AL Cy Young voting, and Cole finished fifth in 2018 and second in 2019 as well.
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