'I didn't believe it was gonna happen': Reliever Hunter Stratton thrilled with Pirates promotion

Hunter Stratton was in his third season with Triple-A Indianapolis and the final year of his minor league contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates, so he had reached the now-or-never stage of his pro baseball career.

A 16th-round pick out of Walters State Community College in Morristown, Tenn. — where Stratton earned his associate’s degree — the 26-year-old right-hander didn’t have a fallback plan.

So he attacked August, not allowing an earned run in 11 appearances from Aug. 1 to 27 and forcing the Pirates to take notice. On Monday, they selected Stratton’s contract and added him to their active roster, designating lefty reliever Rob Zastryzny for assignment.

“It just changed everything,” Stratton said. “It put my name in the right people’s ear, and I’m here. It’s a blessing, man.”

Stratton was in disbelief as he stood in the Pirates’ clubhouse at PNC Park. A year ago, he was 2-6 with a 5.71 ERA and 1.48 WHIP in 63 innings over 47 appearances at Indianapolis. He averaged 11.7 strikeouts but 5.6 walks per nine innings.

“Honestly, I didn’t believe it was gonna happen,” Stratton said. “You dream of it your whole life, and, now that it’s finally true, you just can’t believe it.”

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This season, Stratton improved to 4-4 and lowered both his ERA (3.99) and WHIP (1.33) while holding opponents to a .219 batting average. His August was amazing, as he didn’t allow a hit in 10 of his 12 appearances that included an 11¹⁄₃-inning scoreless streak, held hitters to an .070 batting average and recorded four saves.

“I think it speaks to his determination and his willingness to continue to grind and try different things and do different things,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “I can imagine, spending 2¹⁄₂ years in Triple-A, you feel like maybe there’s no light at the end of the tunnel. But, if you continue to perform, you’re going to put yourself in a position to be in the big leagues, and that’s where he’s at.”

Stratton didn’t change his arsenal as much as his mindset. He focused on attacking hitters, winning counts and throwing every pitch with conviction. He treated each appearance as if he had nothing to lose.

“I fixed my mental side of it and my attack plan,” Stratton said. “I’m going to stick right there and stay on the attack, try to push them all down. I’m going to take it all in, but I‘ve got a job to do.”

Word of Stratton’s monster month reached Pirates reliever Colin Selby, who pitched with Stratton in the Indianapolis bullpen before his call-up Aug. 8 and was impressed by his slider-cutter combination.

“He’s got electric stuff,” Selby said. “He’s got a mid-to-upper-90s fastball and some off-speed pitches to keep the hitters off-balance. I think he’ll be just fine here.”

As for Stratton’s role, Shelton said “everything’s on the table” for a team that has been using relievers as openers and in bulk roles while dealing with a shortage in the starting rotation. Where Stratton got the promotion because the Pirates needed a reliable reliever, Shelton counted it as an “organizational win” that a pitcher who isn’t ranked as a top-30 prospect earned his way to the major leagues.

“This is not only an organizational win because of the fact the organization has stuck with a guy and developed a guy, but this is also a win for Strat because of the fact that he did stay with it,” Shelton said. “So I do think that is important for us organizationally to be able to reward when guys have done that.”