Giants closer Hunter Strickland will miss the next six to eight weeks following surgery to repair a fractured right hand, manager Bruce Bochy told reporters Tuesday (Twitter links via Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area).
The injury occurred in rather embarrassing and regrettable fashion, it seems, as Strickland punched a door out of frustration after blowing a save and surrendering three runs in last night’s loss. In the absence of Strickland, the Giants will turn to either Tony Watson or Sam Dyson to serve as the primary closer, according to Bochy. Right-hander Pierce Johnson will be recalled back to the big leagues to take Strickland’s roster spot.
[Related: Updated San Francisco Giants depth chart and MLB closer depth chart]
Needless to say, the ninth-inning situation in San Francisco over the past season and a half hasn’t panned out the way the Giants had hoped. The Giants signed Mark Melancon to a then-record-setting four-year, $62MM contract to handle closing duties, but he’s managed to throw just 35 2/3 innings in the Majors dating back to Opening Day 2017, as he’s been hampered by pronator and flexor strains in his right arm. Melancon joined the club for his 2018 debut earlier this month, but it seems that in spite of his considerable experience in the ninth inning, he won’t be immediately considered for closing opportunities.
To Strickland’s credit, the 29-year-old stepped up early this season to fill in for Melancon and enjoyed immediate success. Despite last night’s three-run hiccup, he’s sitting on a strong 2.84 ERA with 8.2 K/9 against 3.7 BB/9 and 0.6 HR/9. Strickland’s 28 games finished are the most in the National League, and 13 of those games finished have resulted in a save.
A full year of ninth-inning work would’ve poised Strickland for a healthy raise on this year’s $1.55MM salary in arbitration this offseason, but his earning power will undoubtedly be hindered by the missed time — especially if he doesn’t regain the closer’s role when he eventually returns from the disabled list. The Giants control Strickland, a Super Two player, through the 2021 season. He’ll be arbitration-eligible three more times before reaching free agency.
Unbelievable. This guy needs to go. Should’ve traded him while his value was up…
Yea, all teams trade their young, high potential players when their value is up…. Wait… Your 20/20 hindsight is remarkable.
I’d usually agree with you but this guy has a clear character flaw
Ok no need to be rude dude…. I’m just saying that he should’ve been gone after the Harper incident and now you aren’t getting anything for him, especially since he hasn’t been very good as of late.
No, his rudeness was funny. I liked it. And given your baseless emotional statement, well applied. Down votes for you. Up votes for him.
Have a great rest of your day.
The amount of trolling on these comment boards is ridiculous. The guy stated an opinion. No need for the stupid comments. 3rdstrikelooking, you’re a douchebag.
“Down votes for you. Up votes for him.”
I’m told that a million upvotes, when combined with $2.50, will buy you a ride on the subway or bus of your choice. Other than that votes/ratings at this site are completely meaningless and hardly worthy of mention.
Probably the best comment I have seen on this site.
Agreed in 3rd strike looking being a douche no need for that dude.
Hey if that is true that means one million up votes is worth 25 cents in N.Y. with our $2,75 fares. They probably just give you a voucher to mail in and you end up paying more for the stamp.
Strickland is a douche. Nothing more nothing less.
Giants kept the players they should be traded
And trade the players that should be keep
Adam Duvall
Now giant outfielders is a mess
Giants should not lie to themselves
Time to tear down and rebuild
Someone needs anger management
I do agree, but at least he didnt punch himself in the face after giving up a walk off homerun
I am Tyler’s blown save.
^ underrated post
His name is Robert Paulson.
Strickland is gonna be the guy yelling “You kids get off my lawn.”
You can fix a lot of things… but you can’t fix stupid
Especially when it’s fans 😉
He’s not the first player to injure himself out of anger and he certainly won’t be the last. It’s not stupidity, it’s passion. If he brushed off his poor outing as as nothing or no big deal, then I’d be worried.
I agree that he doesn’t need to brush it off. However, there are more productive ways than causing injury and property damage. He could calm down and use that anger to cheer for his teammates, do an extra workout after the game to refocus his anger, and/or do volunteer work the next day. Acting like a self-destructive renegade isn’t going to help the team.
There’s ways of showing “passion” and getting out frustration, that are better than punching something and needing surgery.
“It’s not stupidity, it’s passion.”
No, it’s stupidity. Had the opportunity to observe Mariano Rivera’s entire career. While he was obviously quite successful there were some notable failures. Know how many times Rivera lost his temper and injured himself—zero. Was he not passionate enough for you?
Why do you see loss of self control as a good thing? How does doing something blatantly self-destructive help the player or team? You must love former Met Matt Harvey, whose similar “passion”cost his team a WS game and potentially the series itself.
“If he brushed off his poor outing . . . “
Which was exactly the way Rivera handled his failures. Didn’t throw things, didn’t punch a wall or break a water cooler (although that last one is more a hitter’s resort). Just recognized that sometimes you’re gonna lose despite your best efforts and got ready for his next appearance. As opposed to your hero, Strickland, who will have to help his team from the DL for the next two months. I am not a Giants fan but I’d expect that those who are Giants fans aren’t real happy about Strickland’s “passion” just about now.
“ . . . as no big deal, then I’d be worried.”
Which means you would have been worried about Rivera every time he blew a save, because he handled it like a professional rather than a school kid. Good for you.
Labron James did it a people said it’s cause he’s a competitor, Hunter does it and they say trade him. ? ?
He has got serious anger issues. Bryce Harper now this lol.
lmao
imagine being so buttblasted that you punch yourself in the face after a blown save… wait that was Giles. maybe strickland and giles should attend some anger management classes together sometime
My name is Ken. Hi Ken. I have anger management issues.
My name is Hunter. Hi Hunter. I have anger management issues.
Dumbass. All I needed to read was the headline to know exactly what happened.
Stoooooooooopid!
At least now Melancon can start earning some of that….oh, nevermind.
Come, come, now. That’s a bridge too far. Sam Dyson, you’re the man for the foreseeable future.
About two weeks and 2 blown saves later…
Maybe not even two weeks.
Couldn’t have happened to a better guy.
Least he could have done was punched Melancon so Giants fans could take out frustration on the FA sign.
Hopefully this bumps him from the closer role. Sad to see him hurt, but Watson can now prove his worth. My question is: Dyson over Melancon?
Dyson is only good when there isn’t a lead that needs protection.
How is Melancon not going to handle closer duties? It’s literally what he was signed for. Give it 2 weeks tops before he’s back in that role
What a complete ass hat. He’s been an ass the entire time he’s been on the giants, and they market him as some family man. Just a joke. Obvious roid casualty.
IDIOT for injuring himself. What were Bochy and the Pitching Coach doing? They are responsible for this as well. Strickland’s FB speed was down and he was struggling with location. Should have got him out of there instead of trying to get by on slow junk. Maybe blame on Posey too as he was calling the pitches – depending on whether or not Strickland was shaking him off. If that’s the case, that is on Strickland..
Feels like the Giants are on some kind of injury scavenger hunt this season.
Has great stuff, but no control. No control on his pitches, no control on his behavior.
hunter can definitley be a talented pitcher when hes not in his own way,however im happy to see watson/dyson/moronta all working together to closeout games! im done with strick, not a bad kid but hes showing hes not able to keep it together i dont recall the sfg putting up with to many stunts like this in the past. Sure hope they dont have to pay an idiot salary who broke his own hand cuz he couldnt do his 1 job to throw strikes….tantrum reminds me of casilla on the mound pouting and stomping like its gonna help
What an idiot.
Holy Kevin Brown, Batman!
If The Giants want to win, they better not use Watson as the closer for now.
Notice, they mention Melancon’s contract. Why? Chances of opt out, another long-term pact, increases with each save. Respect them trying to make playoffs, Kept Strickland at his closer role despite Malencon’s $$$. Next in line at closer… Melancon.
This is literally good karma for SF. Now he can accumulate as many saves as he can, try to secure more than $28M, ‘19-20. He is going to be an interesting case-study, despite SFG fans’ disdain for him. See player opt out can be beneficial for team however unlikely the opt out seems.
The idea that Melancon is a closer still is laughable. You’re basing your theory off Melancon still being worth even close to the money he’s paid in the future. Anyone who would sign that piece of jerkey to a long term should be fired. He will be lucky to remain healthy another month!
5th Marlins come back against the Giants in the last week, and Kim pretty sure at least 3 of those were against Strickland lol. You could tell he was salty after Brinson got that base hit
Super salty never seen a closer sweat so much!
Brinson got all up in his head…. again. He’s a chump. We’ve known that since 2016.
2016?!? How about 2014 when he gave up those homers to bryce Harper and look how professional he handled that!
Wait, don’t you carry three year grudges for giving up home runs in the playoffs?
What a bozo
What a selfish mental midget. He melted down in the world series yelling because the royals took him deep. Then the Harper stuff. Guy’s a turd
Most painful name in sports
Without having seen anything about this, I saw the headline and thought, “What, did he punch something too hard?”
I watched him blow that save the night before, so it came as no surprise when I saw the headline.
ranks up there with kevin brown and jeff kent in punching hand injuries.
If you’ve ever heard an “in depth” interview with this guy you probably noticed that Strickland is about as intelligent as a bucket of hair. But then again you just have to watch him on the field to see that he’s clearly an idiot. Now if SF have to go and get another pitcher it could put them further over the CBT threshold and/or cost them farm talent they are light on. This guy continues to make dumb choices.
Damn, pretty safe to say that the kid Brinson won this exchange in pretty much every way possible.