BOSTON -- The Red Sox have used Matt Strahm as their bullpen’s Swiss Army knife this season. The hard-throwing lefty has come into games in every inning from the fourth through the ninth. He has had to face pockets that were both righty-heavy and lefty-heavy. He has thrown as few as four pitches (May 7) and as many as 41 (June 29). He has gotten one out eight times and six outs twice.
But the Red Sox have never used Strahm as a starter in 2022 -- and it doesn’t appear they’ve ever considered it. Yet Strahm, who started 16 games for the Padres back in 2019, thinks he can be part of some team’s rotation going forward. A pending free agent, the soon-to-be 31-year-old is fine signing as a reliever but also plans to market himself to teams as a potential rotation option. First and foremost, he wants to sign with a contender. If that contender thinks Strahm can start, he has full confidence he can do that.
“I’ve never said I want to sign as a starter. I still think I can be a starter,” Strahm said in a recent conversation in the Fenway Park dugout. “I just want to win, first and foremost. My main goal in baseball is to win a World Series. My dream as a kid was to play Major League Baseball. I’ve accomplished that. Now the next thing for me is just to win a World Series.
“Whatever I feel best on a winning team is what I want to do,” he continued. “I sit here and watch all the starters throughout the league and I think I can do every bit of what a majority of them are doing. But I also understand my value in the bullpen, to be able to cover two innings, get lefties and righties out and bridge it to the back, or even be part of the back of a bullpen.”
Strahm has been a valuable part of Boston’s bullpen in 2022. Even though he missed more than a month after being smoked on the wrist with a comebacker, he’s tied for fourth on the team in appearances at 49. His 3.92 ERA is a tick worse than his 3.71 FIP. And a bad four-outing stretch (Strahm has allowed six earned runs in four innings in four games since Sept. 20) has raised his ERA almost a run. Generally, he has been one of the Sox’ most consistent relievers, especially because both lefties (.229 average, .676 OPS) and righties (.225 average, .664 OPS) have had trouble hitting him.
“He has been very solid for us,” said pitching coach Dave Bush. “Very solid, very valuable because he gets lefties and righties out. I think that’s the important quality for someone like him.”
Strahm was limited to just 27⅓ innings in 2020 and 2021 with San Diego due to recurring knee issues. He underwent a patellar tendon repair in Oct. 2020. But he proved he was healthy in an electric tryout in front of 16 teams in Arizona in March, flashing increased velocity and a devastating pitch mix. The Red Sox’ $3 million offer beat out aggressive pursuits by other teams, including Detroit, Kansas City and Milwaukee.
It was clear to the Red Sox that Strahm, who had a track record of working both as a starter and reliever, would be a bullpen piece in 2022. He was full-go at the start of spring training and has had no knee issues all season; his only missed time came from mid-July to mid-August after he suffered a wrist contusion on the line drive.
Strahm said he understands why teams would want to use him as a reliever this season, but he hopes any health-related limitations are behind him.
“The workload, my last two years, hasn’t been enough to come into this year and be a starter,” he said. “I obviously understood that.
“In the last three years, I have never ran during the season for conditioning... This year, I’ve ran every single day,” he added. “My knees feel like I’ve never had a knee issue before. They feel better than when I was drafted.”
A 21st-round pick of the Royals in 2012, Strahm was primarily a starter in the upper levels of the minors in 2015 and 2016 but reached the majors as a reliever in 2016, when he dominated in 21 relief appearances for Kansas City. He made three starts (and 18 bullpen appearances) in the big leagues in 2017 before being shipped to the Padres at the trade deadline, then was mostly a reliever in a strong 2018 campaign (2.05 ERA in 61⅓ innings). In 2019, he started 16 games and came out of the bullpen on 30 occasions. He has posted better career numbers out of the bullpen, logging a 3.13 ERA and 9.8 K/9 in 195⅔ relief innings as opposed to a 5.08 ERA and 9.3 K/9 in 108 innings as a starter.
Still, Strahm thinks he can do either. He thinks he can start for three reasons. First, his ability to get righties out as a left-hander is rare. Second, unlike most relievers, he features five pitches -- a four-seam fastball, slider, curveball, sinker and changeup -- and says he can add a sixth or seventh if asked. And finally, he believes, teams are valuing versatile pitchers more than ever.
“The value in that is huge just because you see teams using the opener and all that stuff,” Strahm said. “I see myself fitting in those unique roles. Yeah, I can be an opener but you turn around and I might have gone four or five innings. If the starter doesn’t go three or four, I can bridge.”
The pitch mix might be the biggest reason why teams might see him as a starter.
“You see all these two-pitch pitchers and I scratch my head at, ‘Why are you not trying to make a third pitch or a fourth pitch?’ Every time I’ve gotten pushed to the bullpen, coaches have always told me to make one breaking ball instead of having the two,” Strahm said. “I’m like, ‘No, I’ll need both when I’m a starter.’ They’re like, ‘Well, you’re not.’ I’m like, ‘Well, when I become one, I’ll need them.’”
“He has five pitches. Good stuff,” added manager Alex Cora. “Velocity’s good but the other pitches are solid, too. He has done it before. I understand why he feels that way.”
Strahm isn’t the Red Sox’ most notable pending free agent, as Xander Bogaerts, Nate Eovaldi, Michael Wacha and J.D. Martinez are probably higher on the priority list. But Strahm has proven himself as a valuable piece of the pitching staff and might return, too. Theoretically, the Red Sox could look to strike an early deal to re-sign him before he hits the open market after the World Series. Strahm was spotted having a lengthy conversation with chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom in the Rogers Centre dugout before Friday’s game. It’s not known what the men were talking about. But Strahm does want to come back.
“I would love it,” he said. “It’s Fenway Park. You get to play here 81 games a year. This is my seventh season in the big leagues and there isn’t a more special place than here. Definitely hope Chaim decides to give me a call or at least let me know what his plans are, but we’ll see.”
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