The Arizona Diamondbacks were squeezed out of the National League playoff picture, finishing 89–73 but losing tiebreakers to the Atlanta Braves and New York Mets. Four days after their season officially ended, the team fired pitching coach Brent Strom.
Strom, 75, has long been considered one of the best pitching coaches in Major League Baseball. However, the D-backs finished with a 4.62 ERA and 788 runs allowed this season, both third-worst in the NL. Their .266 opponents’ batting average was second-worst in the league, behind only that of the Colorado Rockies.
Pitching coach Brent Strom, assistant pitching coach Dan Carlson and bullpen coach Mike Fetters will not return to the @Dbacks next year in their current roles.
— Steve Gilbert (@SteveGilbertMLB) October 3, 2024
The poor pitching wasted an excellent season by Arizona’s offense, which finished with the most runs scored in MLB (886), tied for the top team batting average (.263) and ranked second in OPS (.777).
Assistant pitching coach Dan Carlson and bullpen coach Mike Fetters were also dismissed, though either or both could be offered other roles in the organization, according to the Arizona Republic’s Nick Piecoro. Carlson had been in his role for the past three seasons, while Fetters was in his position for six (and had been with the D-backs since 2012).
D-backs general manager Mike Hazen acknowledged that injuries to pitchers including Zac Gallen, Paul Sewald, Merrill Kelly, Jordan Montgomery and Eduardo Rodriguez affected the staff’s performance. Yet he said he believed that the team had enough depth to overcome those issues.
“I feel like we had accumulated enough starting pitching to withstand the injuries we took on earlier in the season,” Hazen said in a Tuesday news conference, via The Athletic. “But then in the second half, it just didn’t come together the way it needed to come together. I think that we need to be better at getting these guys to where they need to go.”
Team owner Ken Kendrick candidly admitted Tuesday that signing Montgomery to a one-year, $25 million contract was “our biggest mistake this season.” The eight-year veteran finished with a career-worst 6.23 ERA in 26 appearances (21 starts) for Arizona.
“If anyone wants to blame anyone for Jordan Montgomery being a Diamondback, you’re talking to the guy that should be blamed.”
D-backs managing general partner Ken Kendrick on the signing of Montgomery in the offseason.
Full interview: https://t.co/c9zHhCcebT pic.twitter.com/4wfNmwihSX
— The Burns & Gambo Show (@BurnsAndGambo) October 1, 2024
Strom admitted to reporters that he didn’t click with some Diamondbacks pitchers, though he did not single anyone out.
“It’s difficult to have all 13 like you all the time,” Strom said, via Piecoro. “There are tough things to be said and done.”
“I gave them plenty of space to do some of their own things,” he added. “At times, I backed off. Now that I look back, I feel like I should have been more demanding on a few things. I did the best I could.”
Strom had been the D-backs pitching coach for the past three seasons, following an eight-year stint with the Houston Astros. He was hired by Arizona after initially deciding to retire. Strom also coached with the Kansas City Royals during his career. He pitched five seasons in the majors from 1972 to 1977, going 22-39 with a 3.95 ERA, and got into coaching in 1992, beginning in the Astros organization.