In Wacky Year, Chris Stratton is Quietly Flying Under the Radar

In a year that has seen the bullpen struggle mightily, there are a few relievers who are flying under the radar and are having solid seasons. One of those guys is Chris Stratton, who continued his efforts in last night's 1-0 loss to the Cincinnati Reds.

To say that the Pittsburgh Pirates bullpen has been a dysfunctional mess this season would be an understatement. Injuries and ineffectiveness have thrust guys into positions they weren't ready for, and the team suffered the consequences. However, one guy who is flying under the radar for the Pirates so far is a right-handed long reliever, Chris Stratton. Now, when you think about your best reliever in the bullpen, you don't often think about your long relief. They usually come in when the starter gets hurt or the game is out of hand. Because they often pitch in low-leverage situations, they don't get the attention that the closers and set-up men do, but they are still very important to any good Major League bullpen.

However, Stratton is starting to stand out after another solid outing in yesterday's series finale with the Cincinnati Reds. He pitched 1.1 scoreless innings while striking out three in the latter half of the ball game. Since coming over from the Los Angeles Angels in a trade for cash last May, Stratton has stepped in and played his long relief role nicely for the Pirates. He is having a career-year in almost every statistical category and is showing he can handle the pressures of facing major league hitters in his age 30 season. After bouncing around between starting and relief early in his career, Stratton has seemed to find his niche working long relief in the Pirates bullpen.

Stratton Leading the Bullpen

Just one look at Chris Stratton's stats will show you how successful his 2020 season has been. He currently has a career-low 3.24 ERA, going 2-0 while appearing in 22 games for the Pirates this season. He has the second-lowest bullpen ERA among qualified relievers (3.24) and leads the bullpen with 25 innings of work in relief. His control is about where it has been in past seasons (10 walks), but he has been striking out a lot more batters (32) leading to some of that success. Before he came to the Pirates, Stratton was being used as both a starter and a reliever and that was messing with his head. Now, that he has found a home in the bullpen he is thriving for the Pirates.

One of the reasons for Stratton's success is the introduction of two breaking pitches with a lot of movement. His most effective of the breaking pitches has been his curveball which he uses about 16% of the time, up 3% from last season. Opponents are hitting just .125 against the pitches while swinging and missing 28.6% of the time. The reason for all those swings and misses is the 15.5 inches of break on the ball, which is 6.7 inches above average. His curveball ranks in the top 5% of the league in terms of break and has batters reaching out to the corners. His other breaking pitch that has been receiving looks is his slider. His slider has the highest spin rate of any of Stratton's pitches, 2,895, and is responsible for seven of his strikeouts this season.

Still, his most effective pitch is his four-seam fastball, which he uses 45.2% of the time. He has added more speed to his fastball, ramping up the average velocity to 93.3, which has caused several swings and misses. Opponents are hitting just .158 off the pitch, and he has generated 17 strikeouts from the pitch. It has some movement to it, but it is a mostly straight line pitch that he does a good job of locating. He has a whiff percentage of 39.8% on that pitch and puts batters away nearly 25% of the time. The higher speed plus being able to locate the pitch effectively has done wonders for the right-hander.

Stratton's Future in the Pirates Bullpen

With his performance this season, Chris Stratton has all but secured his spot in the Pirates bullpen for next season. Every team needs a good long-relief arm who can eat up some innings, and that is what Stratton has done since joining the Pirates. The Pirates still have four years of control over Stratton, meaning that he can fill that long-relief role for several more seasons. If he can continue to produce ERAs under the 3.70 mark it will have been well worth the cash the Pirates paid the Angels for Stratton. He is one of the few in the Pirates bullpen who you can rely on when he enters a game to get the job done.

Whether they need him for just one inning or a three to four-inning outing, Stratton is a guy who will come in and pitch to the best of his abilities. Of his 22 appearances this season, he has only allowed two or more earned runs twice this season and has allowed more than three runs only once. He has been particularly strong as of late pitching to a 1.04 ERA in eight games during the month of September, only being scored upon one time. Stratton already has a good approach, and working him out of the bullpen has given him the confidence to go out and trust his stuff rather than saving it all for later.

The Pittsburgh Pirates (14-34) get set to open a five-game home series with the St. Louis Cardinals (22-23) tonight at 7:05 pm. Steven Brault (0-3, 5.06) tries to get back on track for the Pirates going against Dakota Hudson (3-2, 2.92). You can watch the game on AT&T Sportsnet or listen live on 93.7 The Fan as the Pirates get set to kick-off their final homestand of the COVID-19 shortened 2020 season.

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