DK’s Daily Shot of Pirates: Assistant pitching coach

20 comments

1. pirates need to get a legit pitching coach because they have some legit pitching stars ! the marine may have ruined a lot of them because instead of going after the hitter when up 0 and 2 or 1 and 2 time to fart around and end up walking them and giving baserunners a lot more chances to steal ! this team sucks and the coaches and management take most of the blame !

2. The Pirates do have a good propaganda machine. The sad thing is, the fans often buy into it. Working on mechanics is something you do in practice. During your performance, that stuff needs to be subconscious and you need to be thinking of attacking the hitters weaknesses, pitch selection, etc.

3. Should I buy season tickets based on our new assistant pitching coach? I think Cherington is a bad joke! Not a serious franchise. Sell the team Mr Nutting.

4. the never ending search for rock bottom continues 😡

5. The gaslighting from this organization is unreal.

6. This could possibly help us get roki sasaki.

7. The Brent Strom hiring and subsequent firing by the Arizona Diamondbacks has several facets. What I find the most intriguing is Strom's previous connection to the Houston Astros. Strom was the pitching coach for the Astros from 2014-2021. Sarah Gelles, now an Assistant GM for the Pirates, worked in the Astros front office from 2018-2023 and was promoted to Director of Research and Development during that time.

   It's interesting to me that Strom would become an "assistant" pitching coach for the Pirates at age 76, and so far away from his home in Arizona (where he was living before he took the Diamondbacks job). I also wonder if his success in Houston meant that he didn't want his legacy to end with his firing by the Diamondbacks after a VERY poor performance by its pitching staff in 2024 (which resulted in the team missing the playoffs).

   I'm especially curious whether the hiring of Strom by the Pirates might be serving a dual purpose. First, if the Pirates were the only team interested in hiring Strom (or one of just a few), perhaps he thought he could somehow end his career on a high note by joining a team with Paul Skenes in the rotation. Second, this would be the perfect "smoke-and-mirrors" opportunity for the Pirates. Hiring Strom could have been a very intentional act to draw attention away from the MANY embarrassing aspects of this franchise that continue to exist.

   I'd love to know what role Sarah Gelles may have had in bringing Strom to Pittsburgh.

8. Just, call a good hire a good hire. Theres no reason to criticize bringing in a guy who has been to 4 world series in 8 years. Who has had a ton of pitching talent around him. Hes a champion. The reality is, hes been the oldest pitching coach in the league since 2018. People don't want to have a 76 year old in charge of everything, especially with all the tech around player dev now. But he is undeniably a great voice in the room.

9. Why would he be the assistant? He clearly knows more about pitching than anyone who works for the Pirates. Must be the old Pirate tradition of guys stopping by in Pittsburgh on their way out of the majors.

10. I'm a lifelong Bucs fan retired here in AZ. Strom is a good hire. He became the scapegoat when the bullpen collapsed for the DBacks in the stretch run. The GM had more to do with the implosion than Strom. I can only imagine he was hired to work directly with the 3 standouts and let Oscar the Grouch manage the game. When I think of Strom I think of the Steelers Bud Carson and Dick LeBeau.

11. Brent Strom was the 2nd player to undergo "Tommy John" surgery. He's 76 years old. Why would the Pirates make him the #1 pitching coach. He's closer to retirement than a longer career. Disagree with your commentary this time DK.

12. Two heads are better than one. I wouldn't be surprised to see Strom make mound visits.

13. Could this be a 2 step process, with Marin being replaced by Strom?

14. They need bats not some old ass baseball guy. It won't matter Shelton will be gone by the all-star break

15. Ray had good help in Bradenton that was able to tap, but they drained the Shark Tank and that coaching structure went down the drain with it.

16. Now all we need is a new managerial staff from head to toe and everything will be complete 💯

17. They're making a big move!!!! World Series bound!!!!! Smh

18. What I'm hearing from the Pirates is they believe Shelton & Cherrington's lack of success wasn't their fault…

19. Usually agree with DK on most everything, but I like this hire. Not saying it’s going to flip the team to division winner, but I think his experience can help the staff. Just my opinion.

20. If you question the move, Pirate fans will just tell you you don't understand baseball.

    I'll just continue not understanding baseball while the Pirates organization continues dazzling us with their brilliance.