The Los Angeles Angels need healthy relievers who can post good numbers, but they still released Hunter Strickland.
The Los Angeles Angels don’t have a lot of proven, effective relievers right now, and they’ve spent the spring conducting auditions for several important spots, including the closer role.
The results have been decidedly mixed, but that hasn’t stopped them from releasing reliever Hunter Strickland despite an impressive spring training, according to a report from Mark Polishuk of MLBTradeRumors.com.
It’s a baffling move given the number Strickland posted, albeit with a small sample size. His ERA was just 1.80 over five innings in his Cactus League appearances this year, according to Polishuk, but this is one of the problems with evaluating receivers in camp.
They’re not going to get a lot of innings, so to some extent the call depends on what manager Kurt Suzuki and pitching coach Mike Maddux are seeing when Strickland takes the mound.
This may also be a situation where familiarity leads to a need to move on, as this is technically Strickland’s fourth different stint with the Angels, according to Polishuk.
But it could indicate something else entirely, as suggests that this could be a way for the Angels to get around the 37-year old reliever’s first opt-out date and bring him back on a minor league deal. Strickland would need know that a deal like this comes with a strong possibility of an immediate call-up, otherwise he’d almost certainly better served looking for another opportunity elsewhere.
His numbers say he’d be likely to get it, especially at this time of year when teams around the league are discovering that their bullpens aren’t lining up as expected. Strickland has posted an ERA of 3.30 over 95-1/3 innings in the last two seasons for the Angels, although Polishuk described his 18.8 strikeout rate and 8.8 percent walk rate as “nothing special.
The larger issue is that Stickland was out for a chunk of the 2025 season with a shoulder injury, and the Angels are certainly dealing with plenty of those. He’s looked healthy this spring, though, and there’s no shortage of teams looking to sign pitchers to minor-league deals right now.
The pitchers who have clinched bullpen spots includes Kirby Yates, Drew Pomeranz, Jordan Romano and Brent Super, which is an unimpressive group to say the least. One will start the season as a closer, with the others possibly serving as part of a closer-by-committee arrangement. Given the tenuous nature of this situation, Strickland’s status is well worth watching as Opening Day approaches.