Pirates reliever's long-awaited injury return only created more questions

After rupturing his left patella tendon last August, Hunter Stratton is back in the big leagues with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Stratton pitched a career-high 37.2 innings in 2024 before getting injured, and pitched very well out of the Bucs' bullpen. The Bristol native finished with a 3.58 ERA and a 4.71 K/BB ratio. The right-hander finished with a 7.9 K/9, good for seventh among all Pirates qualified bullpen pitchers.

Since the injury, Stratton has pitched 11.2 innings in his rehab assignment with the Indianapolis Indians, the Pirates' Triple-A affiliate. In those innings, he gave up seven runs on 11 hits with four walks for an ERA of 5.40.

Stratton was a bright spot in the Pirates' pen last season, a group that finished 27th in MLB in bullpen ERA. The news of Stratton's return was music to the ears of Bucs fans, as injuries to Tim Mayza and Justin Lawrence have plagued the bullpen. However...

Hunter Stratton's first appearance did not go as Pirates fans expected

Stratton made his first appearance back on Tuesday against the Chicago Cubs, but it didn't go as planned.

He entered the game in the top of the seventh, with the Pirates already down 5-0. With a runner left on base from Joey Wentz, Stratton gave up a two-run home run to Seiya Suzuki, putting the Pirates down 7-0.

Following the two-run bomb, Stratton would go on to give up another hit, as well as walk a batter, but he recorded the final two outs of the inning, giving up just one earned run.

While Stratton's first outing did not go as the Pirates planned, there is still a ton of upside for the 28-year-old. Despite this being technically his third season, he has pitched less than 60 innings in his very young career in the Bucs bullpen.

In his rookie season in 2023, Stratton pitched just 12 innings, giving up only three runs on nine hits in his eight appearances. He held a K/BB ratio of 3.3, very strong for a rookie pitching just a few innings.

The Pirates' bullpen has been off to a solid start in 2025 with a sub-four total ERA, ranking right in the middle of the MLB. With the possibility of Carmen Mlodzinski moving to the bullpen in the coming weeks and Stratton joining the club, the Pirates' pen has a chance to emerge as one of the best in baseball.

Coupling a dominant starting rotation with an improving bullpen will make it even easier on the Bucs' struggling bats to start producing wins for the city of Pittsburgh.