Giants rookie reliever Hunter Strickland stays confident amid rough postseason
SAN FRANCISCO — If we knew Hunter Strickland better, if he were a name-brand, battle-tested relief pitcher, the conversation would probably be amplified. People might be giving him the Detroit Tigers bullpen treatment.
Strickland, a 26-year-old rookie who spent seven seasons in the minors, has pitched four times for the San Francisco Giants in the postseason and has given up four homers. The fourth one came Sunday night in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series, a go-ahead eighth-inning homer that nearly gave the St. Louis Cardinals the game (another homer, not allowed by Strickland eventually would). As far as we know, no one has lit Strickland’s jersey on fire yet in the streets of San Francisco, so that’s a positive.
Strickland threw three off-speed pitches to Matt Adams in the eighth inning with the score tied 3-3. Adams didn’t raise his bat off his shoulder. Then Strickland came with a fastball — a 97 mph heater he didn’t locate like he’d hoped — and Adams crushed it into the right-field stands to give the Cardinals another lead.
“He didn’t even offer at the sliders or anything,” Strickland said 18 hours later. “He was waiting on a fastball. He got it. He got the best of it.”
Strickland stood in front of his locker Monday after the Giants’ workout, facing reporters and answering the inevitable question — how does it feel to give up another home run in the postseason?
To his credit, Strickland didn’t grumble or get annoyed. He seemed solemn, but confident. Annoyance might be expected at this point. The Washington Nationals hit two solo homers off him in the seventh inning of Game 1 of the NLDS, cutting into a 3-0 Giants lead. Bryce Harper hit one a ton into the upper deck of Nationals Park. A fastball. Then, in Game 4 of the series, Strickland gave up a game-tying blast to Harper that landed into AT&T Park’s McCovey Cove. Another fastball.
“None of ’em are easy,” Strickland said. “It’s never an easy thing.”
Lucky for Strickland, the Giants have been able to comeback each time he’s given up a lead-changing homer. The Giants came back and won after the second Harper homer, their series-clinching, wild-pitch victory overshadowing everything. Sunday night, the Giants tied the game in the ninth on another wild pitch.
“After I gave up the lead,” Strickland said. “We came right back at it and nobody quit. That’s the great thing about this team. They never quit.”
Take away the homers, and Strickland’s story would be one of the feel-good variety. He pitched seven seasons in the minors for three organizations before the Giants saw fit to bring him to the big leagues. He was called up in September from Double-A and thrust into high-pressure situations. He throws bullets, and that made him effective in the regular season. Strickland pitched seven innings in nine games in September and didn’t allow a run. He struck out nine and didn’t walk a better.
Giants manager Bruce Bochy, at least when he speaks, is sticking by Strickland. We’ll see if there’s any hesitation to call him out from the bullpen again as the NLCS picks up again Tuesday for Game 3.
“This kid has great stuff,” Bochy said Monday. “He’s made some mistakes. We’re working on things. I know he feels awful about giving up another home run. We may have to tweak things, but this kid’s still going to be part of our sixth and seventh innings. He can handle what’s happened. He just made a mistake there. We made four mistakes.”
Coming out of the bullpen requires a certain nothing-can-phase-me attitude, especially when you’re a high-90s arm like Strickland. If you’re rattled, it’ll show. If you believe opposing hitters can tag you, they probably will.
Strickland answered immediately when he was asked about pitching again.
“I can’t wait,” Strickland said. “This is what we’re here for.”
No fear. At the very least, you have to give him credit for that.
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Mike Oz is an editor for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @MikeOz
