Brent Strom

College and the draft

Prior to playing professionally, Strom attended San Diego High School then the University of Southern California, leading them to two NCAA championships. He was originally drafted in the sixth round by the California Angels in the June secondary phase of the 1967 amateur draft. In the January regular phase of the 1967 draft, he was drafted in the second round by the San Francisco Giants, but did not sign either time. He finally did sign when the Mets drafted him third overall in the 1970 draft.

Professional career

Strom began his professional career as a starting pitcher in 1970 with the Visalia Mets. That season, his record was four wins and five losses with a 3.75 earned run average and 79 strikeouts in 72 innings of work. The following year, he split time between the Memphis Blues and the Tidewater Tides, going a combined 13–5 with a 2.85 ERA and 147 strikeouts in 180 innings of work.

He earned a call-up to the majors in 1972 after doing well with the Tidewater Tides. With Tidewater, he had gone 6–7 with a 3.30 ERA in 142 innings of work. He made his big league debut on July 31, pitching well against the Montreal Expos. In his first game, he pitched 6+2⁄3 innings of work, allowing two runs on two hits and four walks, striking out seven in the process. Although he pitched well, he did not get the decision. The rest of his season did not turn out well; overall, he appeared in 11 games, starting five of them. He went 0–3 with a 6.82 ERA.

Strom was traded with Bob Rauch from the Mets to the Indians for Phil Hennigan at the Winter Meetings on November 27, 1972. He played only one season with the Indians, 1973, going 2–10 with a 4.61 ERA in 27 games (18 starts).

He did not play in the major leagues in 1974, but on June 21 of that year he was sent (with fellow pitcher Terry Ley) to the Padres to complete an earlier trade that occurred on June 15. The Indians received pitcher Steve Arlin in return. Strom played on the AAA level in 1974 for both the Cleveland and San Diego organizations.

He went 8–8 in 18 games for the San Diego Padres in 1975. His 2.54 ERA was second on the team among all pitchers with at least 15 starts; he trailed only Randy Jones' 2.24 ERA. He had another respectable year in 1976, although his record was 12–16. In 210+2⁄3 innings, he posted a 3.29 ERA, and his 103 strikeouts led the team. 1977 was his final season in the majors. He appeared in eight games, making three starts. He went 0–2 with a 12.42 ERA. He played his final game on May 17, a game in which the Padres were routed by the Chicago Cubs 23–6.

Although he did not play in the majors after the 1977 season, he remained active in the minors for a few more years. He did not play ball at all in 1978 after being released by the Padres in March of that year. After he was released, Strom became the second person to have Tommy John surgery, performed by Drs. Frank Jobe and Robert Kerlan. He was signed by the Houston Astros in March 1979. In his first year in the Astros' farm system, he pitched for the Daytona Beach Astros, the Columbus Astros and the Charleston Charlies. He went a combined 10–7 with a 3.63 ERA in 139 innings of work. In 1980, he pitched for the Tucson Toros, Houston’s top farm team, and went 11–6 with a 4.37 ERA in 136 innings. Strom played his final year in 1981 with the Albuquerque Dukes in the Los Angeles Dodgers organization.

Overall, Strom went 22–39 with a 3.95 ERA in 100 big league appearances (75 starts). He pitched 501 innings, striking out 278 batters and walking 180. As a batter, he hit .078 in 102 career at-bats.

In the minors, he went 46–30 with a 3.65 ERA.

Post-playing career

Beginning in 1992, Strom served as the pitching coach for the Tucson Toros, Houston Astros, the Kansas City Royals, and then another stint with the Astros. He also served as the minor league pitching coordinator for the Montreal Expos/Washington Nationals organization, and as minor league pitching instructor in the St. Louis Cardinals' organization.

For over 30 years beginning in 1992, Strom was a co-director of the San Diego School of Baseball along with Tony Gwynn, Alan Trammell, and others.

During Strom's first season with the Astros in 1996, Darryl Kile (219) and Shane Reynolds (204) both struck out at least 200 batters. This was the third season in franchise history that the Astros featured least two such hurlers. Reynolds later credited Strom with the development of his pitching arsenal, leading to a successful and lengthy major league career.

He returned to the Astros as pitching coach for a second stint prior to the 2014 season and continued to serve in that role, teaming again with general manager Jeff Luhnow, previously the Cardinals' farm director. Strom oversaw a pitching staff that emerged as an integral component of the most successful era to-date of Astros baseball, culminated by their first-ever World Series championship in 2017. The Astros then qualified for seven consecutive American League Championship Series (ALCS) from 2017 to 2023. Strom coached Cy Young Award winners Dallas Keuchel (2015) and Justin Verlander (2019), three no-hit games, and, in 2018, the first major league pitching staff with three pitchers who each registered 15 wins, 200 strikeouts and a sub-3.50 ERA (Verlander, Gerrit Cole and Charlie Morton), among other records and accolades.

Collin McHugh was selected by the Astros off waivers prior to the 2014 season, and made 25 starts for the team that year, yielded a 2.54 ERA and 1.022 WHIP over 154+2⁄3 innings, gained an 11–9 W–L, and wound up fourth in the American League (AL) Rookie of the Year (ROY) voting.

In his Cy Young-winning season of 2015, Keuchel also became the club's eighth 20-game winner, and turned in the fourth-lowest ERA in club history among left-handers (2.48), the lowest since Andy Pettitte in 2005 (2.39). McHugh, who won 19 games, gave the Astros their first 19-game winning tandem since 1999 (Mike Hampton (22 wins) and José Lima (21)). Will Harris, another wavier claim, recorded a 1.90 ERA and 0,901 WHIP over 68 appearances in 2015. He provided a steady bullpen presence for five seasons, each year with an ERA under 3.50. From 2015 to 2021, the Astros ranked second in the major leagues in both ERA and strikeout percentage,