ANAHEIM — Ron Washington said Hunter Strickland refused to have a night off on Wednesday, which was no surprise to the Angels manager.
“He was one of those guys that were on fumes,” Washington said, “but he refused not to take the ball because of the situation we were in. He stepped up and said he will take the ball.”
Washington said Strickland and Carson Fulmer are two relievers “that I’ll go in a foxhole with and die in that foxhole with them, because they never deny the baseball.”
Strickland pitched the least of the four relievers who brought home the Angels’ 7-2 victory over the Texas Rangers, but he was also the only one who had pitched the night before. Strickland went two innings on 17 pitches on Tuesday night, when the Angels’ bullpen had to piece together seven innings.
The next night, the Angels had a lead and needed to get another 4⅔ innings out of the bullpen after starter Griffin Canning’s early exit.
Although Strickland allowed three of the five hitters he faced to reach, one of the outs was a bases-loaded strikeout of Wyatt Langford to hold a three-run lead.
José Marte then came in for the final out of the inning, preserving the scoreless outing for Strickland.
Strickland has not allowed a run in his last 10 games, allowing just two hits in 12⅓ innings. The hot stretch worked his ERA for the season back down to 3.38, after a slump in early June.
“I think he’s finishing his slider,” Washington said. “He’s finishing his pitches. I just think he might have got a little tired and then started leaving stuff where if you finish it, he would got more bite on his breaking ball and more ride on his fastball. We backed off him a little bit and starting to get strong again.”
Strickland, 35, is one of the success stories of the season.
Strickland began the 2023 season in the minors. He was released in May and spent the rest of the year believing his career was over. Strickland decided to give it another try in the fall, and the Angels signed him to a minor league deal.
Now, he’s providing the Angels with valuable innings and he’s helping the young pitchers on staff. The Angels also might be able to get a player for him by trading him before the July 30 deadline.
PITCHING MOVES
The Angels optioned Marte to clear a spot for right-hander Jack Kochanowicz, who was scheduled to make his major league debut on Thursday.
Marte had a 3.55 ERA in 12⅔ innings, including retiring all four batters he faced on Wednesday.
The Angels could also have optioned left-hander Kenny Rosenberg, who was recalled a day earlier. Rosenberg, however, is a starter, so he provides more length for the bullpen.
“Obviously it was tough,” Washington said of the decision to send Marte down. “But we needed some length. When it’s time that we need someone, he’ll certainly be the first one to come back, but right now we needed some length.”
The Angels are undecided who will start on Sunday.
Roansy Contreras is a candidate, as is Rosenberg.
The Angels also might bring up right-hander Sam Bachman, who was scratched from his scheduled Friday start at Double-A.
Bachman has a 3.94 ERA in the minors this season, which included his rehab from shoulder surgery. He gave up one run in six innings, with eight strikeouts, in his last Double-A start.
NOTES
Outfielder Jo Adell, who had been out for a day with the virus that has been going around the clubhouse, was back at the ballpark on Thursday and he went through an on-field workout. He was not in the lineup, though. …
Left-hander José Quijada pitched at Triple-A on Wednesday night, the first game at that level since the start of his rehab assignment. Quijada, who is rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, is expected to join the Angels’ bullpen around the end of the month.
UP NEXT
Mariners (LHP Bryan Woo, 3-1, 1.77 ERA) at Angels (LHP Tyler Anderson, 8-8, 2.81 ERA), Friday, 6:38 p.m., Bally Sports West, 830 AM
