Perrotto: New Pirates Coach Brent Strom is Truly Ageless

Let’s try to put Brent Strom’s professional baseball experience into perspective.

Strom was present when Roberto Clemente recorded his 3,000th career hit for the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sept. 30, 1972.

Strom was a rookie pitcher with the New York Mets, sitting in the bullpen down the left-field line at Three Rivers Stadium. He had a great view of Clemente’s double into the left-center gap off Jon Matlack.

More than a half-century later, Strom was introduced as the Pirates’ assistant pitching coach on Thursday. Strom is now 76 years old but going strong and the Pirates feel he can help pitching Oscar Marin develop some of the most highly regarded young pitchers in baseball.

Strom planned to retire following the 2021 season when he was the Houston Astros’ pitching coach and they lost to the Atlanta Braves in the World Series. However, the Arizona Diamondbacks offered him their pitching coach job and he decided to stay in the game because of the proximity to his home in Tucson, Ariz.

The Diamondbacks reached the World Series in 2023, losing to the Texas Rangers – giving Strom four Fall Classic appearances in seven years. However, Arizona missed the playoffs this year on a tiebreaker and Strom was fired after the Diamondbacks finished 27th among the 30 MLB teams in ERA.

Yet Strom did not want his career to end that way. After being fired, he and Pirates bench coach Don Kelly spoke on the phone – they had both been on the coaching staff with the Astros in 2019.

When Kelly learned Strom still wanted to coach, he let his bosses know. That led to Strom joining the Pirates in a newly created position.

“The excitement of the 2023 season still stuck with me and I just thought that there was more work to be done,” Strom said. “When I got the call from Pittsburgh, I talked to my wife and at first, I discounted it. I thought I had enough. And then the call came a second time, and I said, if they wanted me and pursued me and I had the feeling that the competition was so exciting, to be able to teach is in my blood and after this year we will make another decision. But right now, I just want to help this ballclub and nothing would be more exciting than to get into the playoffs with this pitching staff in a short series, because you know anything can happen in a short series. I would not bet against this team if we could possibly get in.”

Yes, you read that right. And, no, Strom might be 76 but he’s not senile.

Strom thinks the Pirates can be competitive next season despite finishing last in the National League Central for the fourth time in six years in 2024. They have also had just four winning seasons in the last 32 years. And, of course, the franchise has not won a postseason series since the Pirates beat the Baltimore Orioles in the 1979 World Series.

However, the Pirates’ starting pitching depth gives Strom reason for optimism and the desire to take on a new challenge at an age when most people are retired.

Paul Skenes fronts the rotation after winning the National League Rookie of the Year award. Jared Jones is also coming off a fine rookie season and the projected rotation for 2025  includes Mitch Keller, Luis Ortiz and left-hander Bailey Falter.

The Pirates also have prospects Bubba Chandler, Thomas Harrington, Braxton Ashcraft and Mike Burrows who could factor into the rotation plans next season.

Strom could not pass up the opportunity to work with Skenes. Strom was the National League pitching coach at this year’s All-Star Game when Skenes started for the NL.

“The little bit of time I was with Paul, I was just very impressed by the way he prepared and what he went through to get ready for the All Star Game,” Strom said. “It was my first time I ever met him and I remember writing a little short piece, a small scouting report on the American League lineup. I think I took the first six hitters and I kind of wrote down (Aaron) Judge and (Juan) Soto, and it just was on a little piece of paper in pen. I gave him the first six hitters and it was interesting, he said, ‘I think I’ll be through with them before we get to the sixth hitter,’ which was pretty impressive of a young pitcher to say, and obviously very confident.

“But the preparation that he puts in and the year he had was exceptional, but now the hard part begins. He’s got to repeat it. The league will catch up to him a little bit, they’ll start to understand him a little bit, and so this is a young man I think that will continue to make adjustments. I think he wants to be great, and I think that having that mindset will benefit not only him but benefit this ballclub in a residual way.”

The Pirates should greatly benefit from Strom’s wisdom, an amazing 52 years after having a front-row seat to one of the biggest moments in franchise history.