San Diego Padres: What’s behind Matt Strahm’s struggles?
By Yeon Lee
San Diego Padres pitcher Matt Strahm has been a revelation, but he has struggled lately. Let’s take a closer look.
Matt Strahm has been a pleasant surprise for San Diego Padres ever since he got traded. After he got traded for Trevor Cahill, Brandon Maurer, and Ryan Buchter to San Diego, He had been quite a dependable arm in their bullpen last season, allowing only 14 runs through 61.1 innings while striking out 69 batters.
His fastball, slider, change-up, and curve combo is considered all above average, which convinced the Padres front office to convert him into a starter this season. He apparently answered it with the dominant performance for the first two months posting 3.21 ERA with 51K. However, things started to get ugly when the calendar turned to June. He allowed 11 home runs since June 2 while his ERA skyrocketed to 10.32 during that span.
Durability has always been a concern for him. His career has been plagued by multiple injuries. While going through four seasons, he spent 142 days on IL stint. This is why he tried to bulk up to stay healthy this offseason, but apparently, it doesn’t help him stay as a starter. After June, all of his offerings are not as effective as before at all. The opponents’ batting average against his fastball is .364, which is far worse than the numbers he posted from March to May this season. Furthermore, the batting average against his changeup is .636! It is even crazy considering it was .149 before June. Something is clearly wrong about him.
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He has been trying to get out of the funk using more curve rather than ineffective changeup, especially against left-handed hitters, which is somewhat helpful for him based on the doubled whiff rate of his curve. However, it was not good enough to cover up the ineffectiveness of his secondary pitch.
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although his whiff rate of fastball and curve has increased, it doesn’t lead to a positive result at all. All the peripherals don’t look like he deserves the inflated ERA. Seemingly, fatigue is to blame for his struggle.
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His vertical release point has been decreasing over the months. Compared to the last season when his release point was relatively consistent, it is not anymore this season. His career high innings pitched are102 innings with 18 starts three years ago in Double A. Right now, he already reached to 79.2 innings.
Strahm has never been used as a starter only for his career. He has already made 15 starts so far, which could be a heavy workload for someone who rarely goes deep into the game throughout his career. Considering his flyball-heavy oriented profile, his .301 BABIP might also suggest he has a bit bad luck, too. Currently, San Diego decided to send him to the pen so that he can get out of the slump.
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Next season would be the real challenge for Strahm. If he can’t prove himself being able to handle a heavy workload next year as well, he might have to accept a permanent spot in the bullpen for the San Diego Padres.