Pirates Star Excited For Addition of Brent Strom
It didn't take long for newly hired assistant pitching coach Brent Strom to earn a stamp of approval from Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes.
Skenes said he met the longtime pitching coach at the All-Star game and touted Strom's ability to develop pitchers along with how he can help the Pirates take the next step.
"I've heard nothing but great things about Stromie," Skenes said. "I met him at the All-Star Game in Texas last summer, and it's a really cool opportunity to have him on staff with [pitching coach] Oscar [Marin]. Brent knows how to build pitchers. He also knows how to win, and he's going to do everything in his power to help make that happen here."
Strom pitched in the big leagues for five seasons for the New York Mets (1972), Cleveland Guardians (1973) and San Diego Padres (1975-1977). He entered the coaching ranks in 1992 and got his first gig as a pitching coach in the big leagues with the Houston Astros in 1996 before also holding the same role with the Kansas City Royals for two seasons (2000-2001).
Strom had a second stint with the Astros from 2014 to 2021, which has been the best of his career. Houston made three appearances in the World Series, including winning one in 2017 and he helped develop its pitching staff into one of the best in baseball.
Under Strom's leadership, Justin Verlander re-emerged as one of the best pitchers in baseball and was a finalist for the American League Cy Young Award in three consecutive seasons, including winning it in 2019. Gerrit Cole saw similar results upon being traded from the Pirates to the Astros in 2018 and went 35-10 with a 2.68 ERA and struck out 602 batters over his two seasons in Houston.
The Astros also had two other Cy Young Award finalists with Framber Valdez in 2020 and Lance McCullers in 2021.
After the 2021 season, Strom joined the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2022 as their pitching coach and held the role for three seasons before they parted ways earlier this offseason. Arizona reached the World Series in 2023 and Zac Gallen was a two-time National League Cy Young Award finalist with Strom on the staff.
