Brent Strom, who helped build an Astros pitching staff that won three American League pennants, including the 2017 World Series, before leaving the club following last season, fought back tears Tuesday afternoon while talking about his memorable run in Houston. Strom left the Astros following last year's Game 6 World Series loss to the Braves and joined the D-backs, who came to Minute Maid Park on Tuesday. "Well, it's been unique," said Strom, who was presented with an American League championship ring prior to Tuesday's game. "A little bit difficult because the last time I was here, [Jorge] Soler hit a ball about 450 feet and we lost Game 6, but it's fun to see the guys." Strom, who carved out a reputation for turning careers around and taking established pitchers to the next level during his eight years in Houston, has watched the Astros continue to have success on the mound since his departure. The Astros entered Wednesday ranked first in the AL with a 2.92 team ERA, a big reason why they clinched the AL West a week earlier. Strom was able to blend analytics with his teachings and turn the Astros into a pitching factory. They plucked Will Harris and Collin McHugh off waivers and turned them into solid big leaguers. He helped take the careers of Charlie Morton and Gerrit Cole to new levels in Houston and coached Cy Young winners in Dallas Keuchel in 2015 and Justin Verlander in 2019. In last year's World Series, the Astros relied heavily on young starters Framber Valdez, Luis Garcia and José Urquidy, all of whom were signed internationally and came through the system. Valdez, Garcia, Urquidy and Cristian Javier have blossomed into key members of Houston's rotation. |
"If you think about what this organization's strength was really based on, it's the signing of young, Latin pitchers, and they really carried this team," he said. "I've been following it all year. And I think they're second in baseball ERA to the Dodgers. And I mean, obviously, with the offense they have, the defense is stellar. It's just an all-around great team. And I'm pulling for them." One of the reasons Strom said he felt comfortable leaving the Astros last year was his faith in young pitching coaches Josh Miller and Bill Murphy, who worked under him and assumed the pitching coach duties this year. "One of them's going to eventually have to leave and cut his own teeth himself, but both of them are exceptionally good teachers and they do really well with the analytical bent that the Astros have," Strom said. Strom has always been bullish on Astros reliever Bryan Abreu, who's had a breakout season. Abreu has a 2.02 ERA in 52 appearances with Houston in 2022, striking out 12.9 batters per nine innings. "He has stepped up and become what I thought he was going to be," he said. Strom said Verlander, who will start against Wednesday's game against Arizona at Minute Maid Park, should win his third Cy Young. Verlander is 17-4 with a 1.82 ERA in 26 starts after missing all last season following Tommy John surgery. |
"Nothing surprised me about him," Strom said. "He basically was kind of like a car that the alignment was off a little bit and he got realigned. He's as good as he's ever been. I mean, he's, he's probably going to win the Cy Young award and deservedly so." Strom remains encouraged by the progress made by the D-backs, who entered Wednesday with 71 wins. He believes Arizona's infusion of young players could have similar results to an up-and-coming Astros team that won 70 games in 2014 and then became a perennial playoff power in '15 behind Carlos Correa, George Springer and Keuchel. "It reminds me a little bit of the young guys that came up through the Astros," he said. |
CATCHING UP WITH DAVID HENSLEY |
Q: What's the best advice you've ever gotten from anybody regarding baseball? A: "Just be true to yourself. Try to understand who you are as a player and compete every day with the trust that you can get it done." Q: Do you have a pregame routine you do or a meal you always eat? A: "There's a lot of routine that goes into it. I don't necessarily have a pregame meal or anything. I kind of eat whatever, just try to put some weight on. There are definitely things you go through hitting-wise to get ready and active the body." Q: What have you gotten to like about Houston so far? A:" This city has a lot of culture to it. There's a lot of art. There's a lot of passion. It's awesome to play in a city where people actually care, people are interested in what's going on. Being open to seeing the city and what they have going on, it's awesome to see how much influence there is from multiple cultures." Q: What is your walk-up song and why did you pick it? A: "My walk-up song is "Rambo" by Bryson Tiller. Going back to the routine thing, I've had that walk-up song since I was a freshman in college [at San Diego State]. It's given me success so far, you know?" |
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TRIVIA The Astros entered Wednesday with an 18-game lead atop the American League West, having clinched their fifth division title in the last five seasons on Sept. 20. It was their 11th division title in team history. The Astros won the AL West in 2017-19, '21-22, the NL Central from 1997-99, '01 and NL West in 1980 and '86. What is Houston's largest lead at the end of any of its 11 division championship seasons? |
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With Triple-A Sugar Land's regular season coming to an end Wednesday, the club unveiled its 2022 individual superlatives: Player of the Year: OF/IF Corey Julks Julks leads the Space Cowboys with 29 home runs, 85 RBIs, a .492 slugging percentage, 139 hits, 54 extra-base hits and 98 runs. Pitcher of the Year: RHP Hunter Brown At the time of his promotion to the Astros on Sept. 1, Brown led the Pacific Coast League with a 2.55 ERA, 134 strikeouts and a .186 opponent's batting average, and was second with a 1.08 WHIP. Defender of the Year: IF Alex De Goti De Goti appeared in more than 25 games at each of the second base, shortstop and third base and recorded a combined .984 fielding percentage. Reliever of the Year: RHP Enoli Paredes Paredes has logged a team-leading 12 saves on the year while going 5-4 with a 2.63 ERA in 50 appearances. Paredes' 2.63 ERA is tied for the third lowest among PCL pitchers with at least 50 innings. |
THIS WEEK IN ASTROS HISTORY Sept. 30, 2007 |
Craig Biggio played the final game of his 20-year Hall of Fame career and collected a double -- the 3,060th hit of his career – in the Astros' season-ending 3-0 win over the Braves. Biggio doubled and scored in the first inning, stretching his Major League record of doubles by a right-handed hitter to 668 (since passed by Albert Pujols). He grounded out in the second, flied out in the fifth and grounded out in the seventh. Biggio went onto the field to play defense to start the eighth inning but was pulled from the game before the inning started to a standing ovation. |
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TRIVIA ANSWER 21 games in 2017 |
The Astros won 101 games in '17 en route to their first AL West title (and eventually won their only World Series). They won the division by 21 games over the Angels (80-82), who finished in second place. |
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