Zack Greinke (21) walks with pitching coach Brent Strom (left) Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Diamondbacks hire Brent Strom as pitching coach after eight-year run with Astros

By Victor Barbosa | Last updated 11/12/21

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.

Brent Strom is not retiring. Diamondbacks planning to hire him as pitching coach, sources tell me and @ByMcCullough.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) November 12, 2021

Rosenthal soon confirmed the announcement that the Arizona Diamondbacks and Strom agreed to terms on a deal.

Strom has indeed agreed to terms with the Diamondbacks. “Me leaving the Astros had nothing to do with any disagreements or anything like that,” he said. “Just a gut feeling on my part that eight years was long enough. It’s really in good shape with the people they have now.”
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) November 12, 2021

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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