Hunter Stratton injury is a blow to the Pirates' bullpen
Hunter Stratton left Saturday's game after rupturing his patella tendon.
Injuries are part of baseball, but that doesn’t make it any easier when they do happen.
After leaving Saturday's game with an injury, the Pirates will be without Hunter Stratton for the rest of the year. After the game, it was announced that he ruptured his patella tendon, and a quick search shows a potential base recovery time of six months.
This is an unfortunate blow for the Pirates’ bullpen, especially for Stratton, who was having a solid season.
In 35 games, all out of the bullpen, the 27-year-old Stratton posted a 3.58 ERA (3.98 xFIP) with a 20.9% strikeout rate and an impressive walk rate of 4.4%.
According to statcast, Stratton primarily used three pitches (usage rate of over 20%)—a cutter, fastball, and slider.
The cutter and fastball have been hit relatively hard, although some underlying data were encouraging that things could turn in the right direction for him.
On the other hand, his slider has emerged as one of the best in baseball. Not only are the base numbers fantastic, but opponents are hitting just .100 against it, and all of the underlying data backs it up.
Opponents' expected batting average is .100, their xSLG is .133, and their xwOBA is .095, while it generates a 44.1% whiff rate.
It has a Run Value per 100 (RV/100) pitches of 4.0, the second highest rate in baseball for pitchers with 25 plate appearances determined by the slider.
Even if the cutter and fastball were getting hit, they were set up pitches in the end for the slider, which was nearly a guarantee to get hitters out.
For a bullpen with the 10th highest walk rate, 24th worst xFIP, and 23rd in ERA, losing Stratton will be a blow.
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At least it sounds like he could be ready for ST but of course there's risk that he's not, which makes strengthening the pen in the offseason even more of a priority than it already was (though still second to strengthening the offense).