Mariners FA Target: Could Matt Strahm find a fit in Seattle?

We’re on a bit of a run here of looking into lefties that the Mariners could add to their bullpen. We know that they need someone who can pitch well against lefties, which is why we’ve recently looked at the possibility of adding someone like Matt Moore or Andrew Chafin. Next on the list to look at is Matt Strahm.

A former starter, Matt Strahm finally saw his first full season as a reliever in 2022 since his rookie year in 2016. I don’t count 2020, since with 100 more games they easily could’ve thrown him in for a spot start or two. He set a new high by appearing in 50 games, and was even used in the 9th to earn his first career save, ending up with four of them.

If they miss on Moore and Chafin, the Mariners should give Matt Strahm a call

With Strahm able to solely focus in on reliever duties, we saw his velocity tick up a bit in 2022. The fastball is up to 94.2 with the sinker right behind it at 94. More importantly, he kept his efficiency up on nearly all of his pitches, with a negative run value (negative is a good thing here) on his fastball, curve, sinker, and slider.

It didn’t matter whether he was facing RHB or LHB, he put up nearly identical lines against them, which is always interesting to me.

• vs RHB – .221/.302/.353
• vs LHB – .229/.333/.354

If the Mariners can convince Strahm to give up on both the changeup then we could see a surprisingly good season from him. He got shelled on the change, giving up 11 hits in 20 ABs. Outside of that, his BAA was just .181. If he ends up in Seattle and never throws the change, we could see another great redemption season from a new pitcher in Seattle. If they want to bring him in, it shouldn’t cost too much either.

A deal for 2 YR/12M would be a nice addition to the Mariners pen

Even though he had a 3.83 ERA, getting rid of that change would bring that ERA down into the low 3s. It seems like we see one of two relievers each year jump up a couple of tiers once they get into their 30s and fully figure out how to pitch. Strahm seems like a good candidate for that and could make for a fun addition to the Mariners bullpen.