Strikeouts Are the Focus For Hunter Stratton

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Ever since he began pitching a baseball, Hunter Stratton has had a one-track mindset for his ultimate objective when facing a hitter. That is complete domination, and three strikes with a trip to the bench.

“I’m always chasing strikeouts,“ Stratton said. “Even when it’s 3-2, I’m trying to get it by the guy. I never think about the guy getting a hit. I’m always chasing it.“

Even in college when he worked with a two seam fastball — which typically creates more of a ground ball pitcher — Stratton still had the mentality of strike out first. His approach with the two seam was to create the movement and miss bats.

With this in mind, Stratton’s K/9 is sitting at 12.8. That is just below his career high last season, which was split between Altoona and Indianapolis. Continuing the success at the highest level is pretty impressive for the right hander, who has shown to be a leverage reliever with Indianapolis this season.

The only downside is that his six walks per nine innings is also a career high. When looking at the total numbers on the surface, it can be a bit deceiving for Stratton. In both April and June, he walked nine batters in each month. In May, he walked seven. However, in July and August he has combined for only seven walks in 14 innings.

Stratton credits his success in the past few months to gaining a second wind.

“[My stuff] feels better as the season goes on,” Stratton said. “I played winter ball last year and I didn’t stop throwing until December. I didn’t get the downtime a lot of other guys got. It is getting better with time because I’m smoothing things out, and polishing things up. I feel like I’m getting better as the season’s going on.“

Overall, Stratton said he does not see a difference in playing winter ball. He said that he’s doing a better job this season not skipping workouts and focusing on nutrition.

One final aspect that makes Stratton very appealing is the success versus right handed hitters. While lefties have a .853 OPS against him, right-handed hitters are just a .665.

“[The success against right-handers is] just about being comfortable,” Stratton said. “Just knowing, if I throw a slider, I have an aim point. That’s all I need with my slider, is an aim point. I trust my fastball, that’s my best pitch, the slider is my second pitch. With a right-handed hitter in there, I have a good aim point.“

Overall, Stratton has some very appealing qualities as a reliever in Triple-A. He possesses a strong slider, and good fastball velocity. If he’s able to show the improvement against lefties to approach the dominant against righties, along with the ability to miss bats, he certainly has the potential to be a major league reliever. Regardless, Stratton has certainly made strides to continue his success in Triple-A this year.