Hunter Strickland (RP, SEA) - Week 10 Waiver Wire Pickups

June 2, 2019

Brady Grove profiles Seattle Mariners reliever Hunter Strickland as a potential waiver wire acquisition of value for fantasy baseball leagues in Week 10 of the 2019 MLB campaign.

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ANALYSIS: Veteran reliever Hunter Strickland didn't have a good time in his incredibly brief stint on the mound for 2019 before being moved to the 60-day IL with a right lat strain, and you would think that would make him an unappealing option out of the Seattle Mariners bullpen. However, considering the fact that the 30-year old pitcher is scheduled to start with mound work soon and he will be fighting to return to a relief core that currently ranks 27th in the MLB in ERA with an atrocious 5.25, Strickland's return to the M's could have strong implications.

Strickland has typically had to perform a balancing act for success on the mound over the last handful of years, and the same formula will likely have to apply if he is going to be successful in his first season outside of San Francisco. He typically walks a high volume of batters and is only able to strikeout a conservative volume by the same token. His main strength has been limiting opposing batter's ability to hit for power, which he has done by tossing his 96 MPH fastball and 85.5 MPH slider to create a rather even mix batted-ball disbursement as demonstrated by the 1.08 career GB/FB ratio. That could be a fitting long-term formula in notoriously pitcher-safe Seattle. Though he'll have guys like Roenis Elias, Brandon Brennan, and Connor Sadzeck to contend with for high-leverage bullpen duties, Hunter Strickland's impending return could net nice statistical rewards with the seasoned veteran in the right situation.