Pirates' Hunter Stratton carted off field after patella tendon rupture

Pirates right-hander Hunter Stratton suffered a left knee patella tendon rupture during the fourth inning of the Bucs’ 10-2 loss to the Reds on Saturday. 

Stratton had just entered the game in relief of Jake Woodford, and his fourth pitch of the appearance was a wild pitch that evaded catcher Joey Bart. As Jonathan India raced home to score from third base, Bart’s toss to Stratton (covering home plate) bounced off Stratton’s glove and rolled to the backstop. While in pursuit of the loose ball, Stratton stumbled and jammed his left leg into the stone wall behind the plate.

Stratton was down for several minutes in the aftermath of the play and had to leave the field on a cart. After the game, manager Derek Shelton told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review’s Justin Guerriero and other reporters that Stratton was receiving an MRI and that the situation “did not look good. I would say this is going to be significant time [out].”

Official word on Stratton’s status should come Sunday when he is inevitably placed on the injured list, but between the nature of the knee injury and the late date on the baseball calendar, it would certainly seem like Stratton’s 2024 season is over. The question now is how much time the 27-year-old will need to recover, and how much of his 2025 campaign could be impacted.

A 16th-round selection for the Pirates in the 2017 draft, Stratton didn’t make his MLB debut until 2023, when he had a 2.25 ERA over 12 innings as a September call-up. Pittsburgh non-tendered Stratton following the season but then re-signed him to a new minor league contract, and he was part of the club’s Opening Day roster this year. 

The righty’s first full Major League Baseball season has included a six-week stint on the IL due to a triceps strain, and now this flukish patella tendon rupture will bring his year to a close.

When healthy, Stratton has pitched respectably well, posting a 3.58 ERA over 37 2/3 relief innings. While his strikeout rate is a modest 20.9 percent, Stratton has done an excellent job of inducing soft contact, and he has avoided free passes to the tune of a 4.4 percent walk rate. 

The latter stat is the most significant part of Stratton’s development into a big leaguer, as he had a 12.98 percent walk rate across his 392 career innings in the Pirates farm system.