Baseball season opened over the weekend, and the Houston Astros are off to a hot start, winning three of the team's first four games with a new face in the coaching line up to cheer them on. Stephanie Mock Grubbs, known as ‘fireball’ around the weight room, is the Astros’ first female strength and conditioning coach.
Grubbs started as an intern with the Clemson University baseball team, and she later moved up to assistant director of Olympic sports strength and conditioning. Grubbs has also worked at Mississippi State and the University of Pittsburgh. She made the move to the Astros this off-season.
According to Chron, “she's currently the only woman in MLB to hold her position (Andrea Hayden was an assistant strength coach for the Minnesota Twins from 2019 to 2021). But she's the first woman to hold her position with the Astros organization.”
Her goal in this position? To help lead the Astros to another World Series win. “It's about adding value to the team, but if what I do inspires young women, that's a great added bonus,” said Grubbs.
In Grubbs’ day-to-day, she brings a high-energy attitude to the job of a strength and conditioning coach. While she’s juggling multiple workout plans and managing the travel, she’s also approaching the job with optimism and a caring personality according to the Astros’ director of reconditioning and speed development.
Former student-athlete Emmy Klika said Grubbs “had themes for her workouts, and gave everyone nicknames throughout the season. That creative approach has inspired her to follow in Grubbs' footsteps as a strength coach someday.”
Grubbs brings a new mentality to strength training in a sport like baseball that has such a long season. She described creating workout plans that call for athletes to do just a few movements every day, rather than one long strength session per week. Grubbs calls it “micro-dosing workouts.”
Astros manager Joe Espada told Chron, “Number one, her knowledge throughout the interview process stood out. I like the energy in the weight room, and how much she's gained respect and trust from the players because she reported early to Houston and started to bond. I'm happy to have her here.”
