I’m guessing Duman would be the person to ask since he knows a lot about the Astros’ Minor League stuff.
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Not that it has anything to do with him being in Phoenix but Strom has ties to Tucson.
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Found this in a St. Louis source. https://www.stltoday.com/sports/baseball/professional/world-series-notebook-lured-from-cardinals-by-luhnow-astros-pitching-coach-strom-proves-his-stuff/article_20094645-3e3a-5f9e-a70a-c5bc7bd5b434.html
Sounds like he may 1) have some loyalty to Luhnow (perhaps feeling that it is underappreciated with current regime), 2) not be as motivated by money, 3) not have considered Houston home, and does to a greater extent with AZ if reports that he has home in Tucson are true.
Can imagine him being offered a position that allows him more time at home while still doing what he does well.
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Strom’s been giving off retirement vibes for a while. In summer 2020, the Astros re-upped his contract through 2021, and even then he said he had been considering retirement. Last offseason, he bought a condo in Puerto Peñasco and did all the paperwork to gain Mexican residency. His offseason home in Tucson is about as far from Puerto Peñasco as Chase Field is. The D-Backs might have been the only team with a shot to sign him as a pitching coach.
Buying a condo and gaining legal residency in another country is more than just giving lip service to retirement, and a smart organization seeing that would begin succession planning. Hence the promotions of Josh Miller and Bill Murphy in early 2021. And this is me speculating, but maybe the succession planning went really well and Strom not only felt like he could and should step away and let those guys have their time to shine.
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They were on the major league staff the last couple of years, I think.
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It sounds to me like Charlie Morton all over again.
I’m gonna retire unless I get a contract from the team closest to home.
Charlie now has two WS rings. Not bad for a guy who the Astros rescued from a trash pile and taught how to be CFM.
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I agree.
CFM was wonderful to watch. Too bad that guy no longer exists.
Seriously though, Strom and the Astros taught Morton how to be CFM and he, in turn, helped bring Houston a title.
I will never think bad about either, regardless of where they decide to move on too.
Thank you Strommy and thank you CFM.
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I would say you are 100% right. It makes perfect sense as to why he chose Arizona.
I didn’t sense any animosity towards Houston whatsoever from Strom. I hope he has success every time he isn’t facing Houston.
Morton never believed in himself in Houston, which i, who had more self-confidence than my ability warranted, never understood. I hope by now Charlie has accepted the changes Houston made were real and believes in himself to be CFM.
Wish he’d been more honest about why he was leaving. Everything I read said he wanted to retire.
A couple of brief bios of the non-Strom pitching coaches, Josh Miller and Bill Murphy. The upshot: they’re both young and both have entirely developed their pitching coach careers with the Astros under Luhnow/Strom, so they know the system. According to the Chronicle, Dusty believes that Miller is ready to step into Strom’s role. If that happens, it seems plausible that Murphy then either stays “assistant pitching coach” or takes over the bullpen coach role.
Josh Miller
- 42 Years Old, drafted by the Phillies in 2001
- After a stint in the indie leagues, the Astros picked him up and he pitched for the Hooks and the Express from 2005-2008. Had the best walk rate in the PCL in 2008.
- Briefly played in Taiwan in 2009.
- Spent 2 years as a pro scout for the Astros
- Greeneville Astros pitching coach 2013-2015 (i.e., an early Luhnow-era hire where he was bringing in outside-the-box coaches who were good at explaining the stats-based concepts the team was trying to implement and–to the irritation of much of baseball–was jettisoning older coaches who wouldn’t get with the program). The G-ville 'Stros won the Appy League championship in 2015.
- 2016-2017: pitching coordinator at the Astros’ West Palm Beach complex
- 2018: pitching coordinator
- 2019-2020: MLB bullpen coach
- 2021: MLB pitching coach (same title as Strom, how the duties were split is unclear)
Bill Murphy
- 30 years old
- LHP selected by Oakland in the third round of the 2002 draft
- Got traded around a few times, but made his MLB debut in 2007 with the D-Backs
- Played in Japan in 2010
- 2014: Assistant coach at Georgetown U.
- 2015: Pitching coach at Brown University
- 2016-2018: Hired by the Astros and worked his way up as a pitching coach in the minor leagues (2016: Greeneville; 2017: Tri-City; 2018: Corpus Christi); worked with a number of names you know, including Framber, Cristian Javier, Bielak, Tyler Ivey. He may also be able to confirm the existence of an individual named Forrest Whitley.
- 2019-2020: took over Miller’s job as pitching coordinator; spent most of 2020 working with pitchers at the Astros’ alternate training site and October instructional league
- 2021: Named assistant pitching coach for the MLB team. This was a newly-created position.
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Thanks for this.
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He did say he’d listen to offers.
The fact he’s going to a team at the bottom of a rebuild sits better with me than if he’d gone to a contender.
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Strom said he wanted to spend more time at home. This is much closer to home.
In his time with Houston, Strom was always candid about things or he skillfully redirected the conversation. He never was one to blow smoke.
Spring training is closer to home.
Home games are closer to home.
Division travel is just one time zone difference not two.
There are some real quality of life issues that make this decision make sense without a big philosophical difference driving it.
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Yeah, maybe. You make a good case. It ain’t lying on a beach in Mexico with no MLB travel, though. His home is in Mexico, not Arizona. He just stays there.
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Thank you for this information on Miller and Murphy.
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Really, Jim? Let it go.
I think he is 40 unless he was drafted at age 10. If that is the case, you buried the lead.
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I can math real good.
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