Strickland signed to bolster back end of bullpen

GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- The Reds added veteran help to the back of their bullpen when the signing of right-handed reliever Hunter Strickland to a one-year contract became official. The two sides agreed to terms on Tuesday.

Strickland will earn $1.825 million in 2022 with an additional $750,000 in performance bonuses possible. He would get a $250,000 assignment bonus should he be traded.

“I think this team could use some veteran leadership in the ‘pen or just in general,” Strickland said. “Overall for my family, it seemed like a good fit, in general.”

Strickland, 33, has a 3.11 career ERA in 342 games over eight Major League seasons with the Giants, Nationals, Mariners, Mets, Angels, Rays and Brewers. He split 2021 among three clubs and posted a 4.03 ERA in 22 appearances.

But the best work of last season came with Milwaukee, where Strickland had a 1.73 ERA over 35 appearances with an added three scoreless outings in the postseason.

“I am beyond blessed for every opportunity I’ve had in the past,” Strickland said. “I’m looking forward to this one, for sure. I definitely think the experience always helps.”

Reds manager David Bell expected Strickland to pitch in the late innings, which could include some closing duties.

“He’s going to pitch at the back end of our bullpen,” Bell said. “That may change, given each day. That was my one promise to him, that I would communicate that to him each day. But I fully anticipate, with his experience and the year he had last year and where he is at this point in his career, that he’s going to pitch very meaningful innings for us and help us win games from the back end of the bullpen.

“He brings a stable presence to our bullpen. He’s been on good teams. He had a great year last year. Good timing to add him to our team.”

During the lockout and while waiting to find a new team as a free agent, Strickland stayed active with throwing and working out. He believed he had enough time to be ready for the start of the regular season.

“It’s not a normal spring by any means. But for me, I feel like I’m ready to go,” he said. “I’ve done the work at home to prepare for this opportunity.”

Roster expansion could add pitching

Multiple reports on Tuesday said that MLB and the players association agreed to expand rosters from 26 to 28 players for the month of April. With the shorter camp this year, starting pitchers will not have enough time to get fully stretched out.

Nothing official has been announced by MLB, but Bell is already going over possibilities and will likely add pitching.

“We started talking about that today. No decision yet,” Bell said on Wednesday. “It’s either going to be 15 pitchers or 14. It’s either 14 [pitchers] and 14 [position players] or 15 and 13. Most likely 15 and 13, but we’ll see. It’ll depend on where our starters are and how our bullpen is set up. It’ll make decisions easier at the end of camp.”