The Atlanta Braves designated Hunter Stratton for assignment on Wednesday, putting the right-handed relief pitcher on the move again after a brief but effective stretch in Atlanta.
For Pittsburgh, the timing matters because the Pirates bullpen has been struggling and any arm with recent usefulness will draw attention. Stratton had a 2.08 ERA in just over 17 innings with the Braves, struck out just under a quarter of the hitters he faced and left inherited runners on at an 87.9% clip.
That is the version of Stratton the Braves saw. It is not the one Pittsburgh had in his final season there. During that stretch, he posted an ERA over 23 in three appearances, a collapse so severe that it seemed to close one chapter on his time with the Pirates. Yet it also sits beside a simpler fact: in the two years before that Pittsburgh season, he had been reliable.
The split helps explain why this move is getting attention. Stratton’s Atlanta numbers were not loud, but they were enough to suggest he still has a place in a major league bullpen. His 4.00 FIP and 3.73 SIERA with the Braves point to a pitcher who was not dominating every inning, but who was getting outs well enough to matter. For a club like Pittsburgh, where Ben Cherington has watched Carmen Mlodzinski fall short and Dennis Santana and Mason Montgomery fail to consistently get the ball to Gregory Soto in the ninth, that kind of arm is worth noticing.
The next step is the five-day waiver window, and that is where the real decision sits. Stratton could clear and become available to Pittsburgh, or another club could claim him before that happens. Either way, Wednesday’s designation turned a reliever who stumbled badly in Pittsburgh and recovered in Atlanta into one of the more watchable bullpen names on the board.
