On the morning after Game 2 of the National League Championship Series, Arizona Diamondbacks officials gathered at Chase Field, chastened after a two-night thumping by the Philadelphia Phillies, grateful for the day off. Little had gone right for Arizona. They had just lost a game by 10 runs. Pitching coach Brent Strom wanted to regroup, reset and rethink the team’s strategy against the slugging Phillies. One of his colleagues, Dan Haren, amplified the idea: The entire pitching staff needed to meet.
A little more than a week later, after Arizona rebounded to win four of five and snatch the National League pennant out of Philadelphia’s grasp, Strom pointed to the meeting as pivotal. He emphasized the importance of pitching inside. Several players spoke up, too. Haren suggested the Diamondbacks capitalize on the aggressiveness of their opponents — a suggestion that proved prophetic when the Phillies swung at 36 percent of the pitches they saw outside the zone in the final five games.
“I tried to tell them that I know that they feel a lot of pressure when they’re on the mound in these games,” Haren said. “But there’s just as much pressure on the hitter. So don’t feel like the weight of the world is on you — it’s also on them, too.”
In that setting, Haren provided the blend of insight and perspective that the Diamondbacks rely on from him. Haren, a 43-year-old three-time All-Star pitcher, retired in 2015 after 13 seasons in the majors. Arizona hired him before the 2017 season. His formal title is “pitching strategist.” He plays a hybrid role. He is not exactly a coach — he does not wear a uniform and does not venture into the dugout during games — but he sports gym shorts far too often to be considered an officially credentialed, quarter-zip-attired member of the front office.
He often works from his home in southern California, studying the tendencies and trends of opponents. At Citizens Bank Park, Haren had a locker inside the visitors’ clubhouse. The nameplate amused him: “13 years, 2,400 innings, 2,000 Ks but now my locker simply reads …” he wrote on his recently re-awakened X account, @ithrow88, linking to a plate that read “ANALYTICS.” He utilizes statistics to formulate game plans for his club’s pitchers, particularly the starters.
“He’s really good,” Diamondbacks pitcher Ryne Nelson said, “at figuring out what a hitter’s not good at.”
“Being able to know who’s aggressive, who you can strike out, all these other factors — that’s the main takeaway,” said Brandon Pfaadt, Arizona’s Game 3 starter. “Dan’s great. He’s been there.”
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