With the perfect Strom, Astros have advantage in World Series
Alex Cora saw no mystery in the Houston Astros’ U-turn that erased his Boston Red Sox from the American League Championship Series. He credited a 73-year-old coach and a 35-year-old light-hitting catcher who most baseball fans might assume would not be instrumental.
But the Red Sox manager called Brent Strom and Martín Maldonado “two of the smartest people in baseball. They completely changed their strategy against us midway through Game 4.”
The Series flipped. The Astros lost two of the first three games but won the final three. Over the last 26 innings, with Maldonado guiding the pitchers that Strom coaches, they outscored Boston 22-1.
The strategy to which Cora referred: Strom instructed his staff to attack the strike zone with fastballs, instead of nibbling on the corners with breaking pitches. The Red Sox had a veteran lineup of disciplined, selective hitters. Houston pitchers were falling behind in the count, so Strom told them: “Don’t try to dance around.”
So now they’re going to the biggest dance. The World Series begins Tuesday night (6:30 CST, Fox), Houston hosting the late-blooming Atlanta Braves.
It could have been in Boston, but as Cora observed, “We were unable to catch up with the fastball. Then they expanded the zone with the sliders.”
Cora anticipated creative thinking by Strom, who was his teammate in 2017 when the Astros won their only World Series championship. Their rings were tainted by an elaborate sign-stealing scandal. Cora, the team’s bench coach, was said to be the “mastermind” of Trashcangate and served a one-year suspension from baseball.
Strom was untainted. Although manager A.J. Hinch lost his job, his successor, Dusty Baker, was wise enough to keep Strom, the turnaround specialist. I knew Strom when he was a pitching coach for the Astros in the 1990s. He was devoted to film study and always open to new theories about pitching. He was on the forefront of spin.
Under Strom’s tutelage, a faded 36-year-old Justin Verlander returned to being the American League’s best pitcher. He was 10-8 in his final season in Detroit, with a 3.82 ERA. He joined Strom in Houston and proceeded to go 42-15 over two seasons, with a 2.70 ERA and a Cy Young Award.
Likewise, Gerrit Cole was 12-12 in Pittsburgh, 4.26 ERA, then went to Houston and had a two-year record of 35-10 and 2.70.
Strom’s signature move is to have a pitcher with a high spin rate throwing high fastballs. This strategy challenges the conventional wisdom of keep the ball low, break the ankles.
Strom’s goal is confusion by using the entire strike zone: mix in sliders or curves that start on the same high plane as the fastball and have similar spin leaving the pitcher’s hand. This technique transformed Phil Maton from marginal reliever to lights-out. His 4-seamer in Cleveland had moderate speed, 92 mph, but exceptional spin: 2,487. Perfect for a Strom makeover. Acquired at the July 31 deadline, Maton in October has thrown 8 innings, allowed 3 hits and 1 run.
When pitchers develop mechanical trouble, Strom is quick to correct, though he points out an irony: “I had terrible mechanics myself.” His big-league career lasted just three years, and he was 22-39, with a 3.95 ERA. The best pitching coaches were usually not accomplished pitchers. Perhaps their failures kept them constantly searching, and much of what they learned ends up helping others.
The Astros’ prospects looked bleak in the ALCS when Game 2 starter Luis Garcia departed with a sore knee after yielding 5 runs in the first inning.
Strom studied Garcia’s delivery and found that the rookie was creating stress on his knee by improperly planting his right foot. After making adjustments recommended by Strom, Garcia reached 97 mph -his season best – and threw 5 1/3 scoreless innings in the Game 6 finale.
Strom also corrected a footwork issue with back-end reliever Kendall Graveman. The righthander allowed 6 earned runs in his first 12 innings with Houston following a deadline deal with Seattle.
After Strom reworked the finish of his delivery to put his feet in the right position, Graveman has allowed 1 run in 7 innings over 6 games. He threw a scoreless inning in Friday’s Game 6.
This postseason is marred by pitching catastrophe: Astros without their ace Lance McCullers Jr., defending champion Dodgers suffering dismal starts by Max Scherzer, Walker Buehler and Julio Urias; Braves ace Max Fried throwing a horrid 4 1/3 innings in Los Angeles, which extended the National League Championship Series.
Braves manager Brian Snitker is calling on well rested Charlie Morton, a former Strom pupil, in the World Series opener. Morton was 46-70 before Strom remade him; he’s 61-24 since. Morton turns 38 next month but still commands one of game’s greatest curveballs, one you can dance with. Baker will counter with lefty Framber Valdez, off the finest pitching performance of this postseason: 8 innings, 1 run against Boston.
Atlanta’s pitching coach Rick Kranitz has a spotty record: fired by the Orioles, Brewers and Phillies before Snitker hired him two years ago. Because of his immense record of big-game excellence I’d bet on Morton in Game 1. But if this World Series requires pitching coaches plotting strategy and making necessary adjustments, I like Houston’s chances for the duration.
