After starting a brawl by plunking Bryce Harper, it’s time to consider trading Hunter Strickland
Nearly three years ago, I was childless and living in an apartment in the city. Now my two-year-old daughter runs around our home in the country, reenacting scenes from “Frozen.” A lot has changed since the 2014 postseason, but apparently Hunter Strickland spent the entire time between then and today envisioning how he’d exact vengeance if he ever got the chance to face Bryce Harper again.
Hunter Strickland is going to be suspended for quite a while pic.twitter.com/C3gwwmklVi
— Bay Area Sports Guy (@BASportsGuy) May 29, 2017
This was a very eventful brawl … by baseball standards. No one involved would be confused with Andre Ward (and what the hell was up with Harper’s helmet toss), but some blows did land. And there was hair. Lots and lots of hair, especially when Jeff Samardzija had visions of 1988 Candy Maldonado in his head and collided with Michael Morse.
HAIR FIGHT pic.twitter.com/Ns8sm4zPyR
— Bay Area Sports Guy (@BASportsGuy) May 29, 2017
But the strangest scene occurred as the fracas appeared to be dying down, when one person seemed to be fighting the entire world — including his own teammates and pitching coach.
A lot going on with this brawl, but Hunter Strickland having to be wrestled off the field by three teammates was the craziest scene. pic.twitter.com/4GpGjvEli0
— Bay Area Sports Guy (@BASportsGuy) May 29, 2017
I don’t think we can make any judgments about this particular Giants team, which got shut out today for the sixth time in 53 games. But it’ll be interesting to see how they handle Strickland.
He’s been the Giants’ best reliever this year, so it’s not like Bobby Evans spent the last couple innings posting an ad on Craigslist.
AVAILABLE: Hard-throwing righty with quick temper. Can grow a mullet if needed. Looking for power-hitting outfielder in trade obo.
However, it’s difficult to see him winning the Willie Mac award after today.
Check out Buster Posey’s reaction in the first video. He spent the first several seconds after Harper charged Strickland behind home plate, then he made sure to avoid the mass of hair and fists once he ventured toward the mound. Thanks to Strickland’s bruised ego, Posey might end up with a bruise of his own courtesy of a Nats pitcher. That can’t sit too well, especially for a guy who’s been drilled in the head this season.
Then you had Strickland looking nothing short of maniacal as Mac Williamson did his best Jeff Van Gundy impression, and George Kontos and Hunter Pence (whose face Strickland swatted) steered the big galoot to the dugout.
While the timing wasn’t great (down 2-0 in the eighth inning, three years after Harper hit a couple moonshots against him in the NLDS), there are surely some Giants players who’d be in favor of the 2015 MVP catching a fastball on the ass in just about any situation, for any reason.
On the other hand, the Giants aren’t exactly deep enough to withstand suspensions for stupid crap like this. Even worse, you just can’t fight against your teammates to that degree. Some “hold me back, hold me back” is to be expected in any basebrawl, but Strickland is lucky he didn’t injure the increasingly fragile Pence, who’s already on the disabled list with a hamstring strain.
It’s a terrible look all around.
— Strickland went with the “if you can’t beat him, throw at him” strategy.
— Strickland didn’t admit that the pitch was intentional. Instead he explained that leaving balls out over the plate hurt him against Harper in the past, so he wanted to “come inside.” Uh, sure. He doesn’t want to incriminate himself with MLB likely handing out some suspensions tomorrow, but spare us the ridiculous alibi.
— Strickland’s smirk (seen in the photo above) was pretty representative of his attitude in the clubhouse when speaking to reporters.
Hunter Strickland seems pretty pleased with himself. pic.twitter.com/pHkWp2qmfo
— Bay Area Sports Guy (@BASportsGuy) May 29, 2017
— Oh yeah, the Giants are nine games away from a wild card spot and there are six other teams between them and Arizona.
Due to that last point, many will probably look at 2017 as a failed season anyway. So why not throw at Harper? I got a few replies like this on Twitter: THE BIGGEST HIT THE GIANTS HAD ALL DAY! LMAO
Again, the team’s problems are too complicated to be summarized by some dumb brawl in late May. But Strickland was out of control, which doesn’t make Bruce Bochy look good. Strickland doesn’t embody the kind of winning player the Giants were known for from 2010-14, either. They won their third championship in spite of Strickland, who stood out in a terrible way as a rookie when he threw tantrums after every postseason homer he allowed. His actions today indicate that he’s someone who prioritizes individual impulse over team success. If this indeed ends up being a season to forget (it sure looks that way right now), the Giants probably wouldn’t lose too much if they traded Strickland for 50 cents on the dollar, or made him a throw-in piece in a trade involving another player.
