NEW YORK -- Five years after leaving the Houston Astros, longtime pitching coach Brent Strom is returning as a consultant to help the team's struggling staff.
Strom will join the club for Friday's game against the New York Mets. Houston manager Joe Espada said Strom will be uniform and in the dugout during games.
"I'm excited about that," Espada said Thursday before the Astros concluded a three-game series against the New York Yankees. "Strommy is one of the architects for this organization on the pitching side of things. I'm excited to bring him back, listen to his perspective, his experience. I feel like there's a value in having him around right now as we make this push here to win the division."
Strom was Houston's pitching coach from 2014 to 2021, when the Astros made three World Series appearances. He left after the 2021 World Series loss to Atlanta, and Joshua Miller has served as Houston's pitching coach for five seasons.
After leaving the Astros, Strom spent the next three seasons in the same capacity for the Arizona Diamondbacks, who reached the World Series in 2023.
Strom helped Pittsburgh ace Paul Skenes win the 2025 National League Cy Young Award when he spent last season as an assistant pitching coach for the Pirates, whose 3.76 ERA ranked seventh in the big leagues. The 77-year-old former major league pitcher was not retained after Pittsburgh finished 71-91.
Houston beat the Yankees 5-1 on Thursday night for its seventh victory in 17 games, but the team's 4.65 ERA ranks 25th among the 30 big league clubs. The starters have a 5.14 ERA, third-worst in the majors, yet the Astros (67-67) hold a one-game lead in the weak American League West over Texas.
"It's a fresh (set) of eyes," Espada said. "He's going to be in our meetings. He's going to be helping in the throwing programs, video analysis. I just feel like this is something we will benefit from having around."
