Of all of the offseason moves that happened before the Major League Baseball lockout was implemented, Brent Strom’s departure from the Houston Astros to the Arizona Diamondbacks may have been overshadowed by other news. However, there’s no question that Strom’s exodus from the Astros and his arrival in the desert will be an interesting transition to watch on both sides.
Can Brent Strom transform the Arizona Diamondbacks pitching corps into a strength like he did with the Houston Astros?
The 73-year-old Strom carries with him to the Arizona Diamondbacks a reputation as one of the top pitching coaches in MLB today. Spending the last eight seasons with the Astros, Strom helped mold the Astros into one of the top teams in the American League, with the four of the last five AL West titles and appear in three World Series during that span.
“We hit the jackpot,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo proclaimed when Strom was introduced to the Arizona media.
But for Strom to truly be a jackpot win for Arizona, he will have to transform a pitching staff that struggled mightily last season. The Diamondbacks ranked 29th in MLB with an overall 5.11 ERA and the team’s 19.7 percent strikeout rate deadlocked with the Baltimore Orioles for last, so there is plenty of room for improvement. The question is how long it will take for that improvement to come.
Strom already has some ideas on how to improve, as he explained before the lockout to Diamondbacks media members.
"“The D-Backs ranked 30th in elevated fastballs,” Strom said. “They ranked second in fastballs down in the zone. That’s unsustainable in today’s game, for me. And it’s something that can be addressed as long as we teach it correctly and explain why it works. It’s something that probably contributed to maybe (having) the less success than they should have achieved. But that’s just one thing.“Obviously, the talent level will determine where we go and what we do and we’re going to try and turn every stone over that we think might be able help each guy get better this year than last year.”"
Arizona has already transformed the back end of its bullpen this offseason, signing a two-year deal with closer Mark Melancon. The Diamondbacks also made an interesting depth signing by bringing former MLB pitcher Dan Straily on with a minor league deal after he showed his worth pitching in Korea. The Diamondbacks also feature a rotation that returns plenty of potential in Madison Bumgarner, Zac Gallen, and Luke Weaver.
With Arizona finishing last as a team in the National League West in 2021 and the pitching ranking near the bottom in many categories, there are plenty of chances for Strom to make a positive impact on the team in 2022. Watching to see if those improvements take place will be one of the interesting storylines in the NL West this season.