{"id":123956,"date":"2026-06-17T21:04:50","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T01:04:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=123956"},"modified":"2026-06-17T21:05:57","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T01:05:57","slug":"pirates-hunter-stratton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2026\/06\/17\/pirates-hunter-stratton\/","title":{"rendered":"Pirates Should Acquire Hunter Stratton After Recent DFA"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Pittsburgh Pirates need relief help in the worst way. Any major additions won\u2019t happen until later in July<\/a>, so that means they\u2019ll have to find help on waivers, minor league signees, or trades for depth relievers<\/a>. One former Pirates reliever was recently DFA\u2019d by the Atlanta Braves: right-hander<\/a> Hunter Stratton<\/a>. They should reacquire him if they have the opportunity, given his previous success in Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n

\"Pittsburgh
Jun 23, 2025; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Hunter Stratton (63) takes a deep breath before delivering a pitch against the Milwaukee Brewers in the fourth inning at American Family Field. Mandatory Credit: Michael McLoone-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Pirates Should Acquire Former Recently DFA’d Reliever<\/h2>\n

Struggles in 2025 and 2026<\/h2>\n

The last two seasons have not treated Stratton well. He has only pitched 20 MLB innings with the Pirates and Braves, allowing 11 earned runs. While he has only walked seven opponents, he has additionally only struck out 17 batters. Stratton has become very prone to hard contact and base hits. He has a sub-par 89.3 MPH exit velocity, and opponents own a .293 batting average against him. It also does not help that he has given up three long balls.<\/p>\n

Stratton also struggled badly at the Braves\u2019 Triple-A affiliate this year. It was only 24.1 innings, with a 4.38 ERA and 4.60 FIP, but a poor 1.62 WHIP. Free passes gave him plenty of problems, with a 14.2% BB rate. While he held batters to a 2.7% barrel rate and 85.1 MPH exit velocity, he also had a sub-10% swinging strike rate (7.4%) and a whiff percentage of 19.1%. His in-zone pitch rate clocked in at just 50%. Though, for what it is worth, Stratton pitched well in the minor leagues last year, with a 2.96 ERA and 16.7% K-BB ratio.<\/p>\n

Promising 2024 Rookie Season<\/h2>\n

At one point, Stratton looked like a potential long-term member of the Pirates\u2019 bullpen. He tossed 37.2 innings in his 2024 rookie campaign, putting up a solid 3.58 ERA, 3.25 FIP, and 1.17 WHIP. Stratton did not get many strikeouts, with a 20.9% K rate.<\/p>\n

However, it was about the only blemish on his bottom line. Stratton induced plenty of whiffs with a 27.4% whiff rate and fooled batters very often, with a 32.7% chase rate. He rarely walked batters, with a BB% of just 4.4%. When opposing hitters made contact against Stratton, it was rarely ever good contact. He held opponents to just an 87.3 MPH exit velocity and a 6.1% barrel rate. Unsurprisingly, he had a 0.72 HR\/9 ratio.<\/p>\n

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Don’t look at Hunter Stratton’s Statcast page…….<\/p>\n

Back-to-back strikeouts as he goes 1-2-3 in the 7th pic.twitter.com\/hivnMcyWwe<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Platinum Key (@PlatinumKey13) May 23, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n