Washington Nationals release Hunter Strickland among other roster moves

With Spring Training suspended and Opening Day postponed for at least two weeks, the Washington Nationals made some roster moves early on Saturday afternoon.

The most notable move though was the unconditional release of Hunter Strickland.

His release caps off a hot-and-cold time with the team after being acquired for minor league relief prospect Aaron Fletcher at the trade deadline last season from the Seattle Mariners.

In his first 10 appearances with the Nationals, Strickland posted a 0.90 ERA with eight strikeouts in 10 innings. However, in his next 14 appearances he sported a 9.00 ERA as he couldn’t prevent long ball, allowing five home runs in 11 innings.

Though he initially made the postseason roster, Strickland was still prone to the home run ball in the NLDS, allowing three home runs in two appearances against the Los Angeles Dodgers. He was then removed from the roster for both the NLCS and World Series.

Hoping for a clean slate this spring to get back to his previous form with the San Francisco Giants, Strickland just couldn’t miss many bats before Spring Training was suspended.

In his six Grapefruit League appearances, the right-hander allowed eight earned runs in 6.2 innings, including three home runs. His last appearance for the team summed up his tenure as he was hammered by the New York Yankees for three runs in just two-thirds of an inning.

Along with the release of Strickland, the Nationals made some other procedural moves.

Also given his unconditional release was fellow reliever David Hernandez, who struggled this spring as well, allowing five earned runs in 2.1 innings over four appearances.

The Nats also announced that they had assigned Jacob Wilson, Brandon Snyder, Taylor Gushue, JB Shuck, Dakota Bacus, Bryan Bonnell, and Wil Crowe to minor league camp, not there will be any minor league camp taking place until further notice.

Finally, the Nationals optioned Jake Noll, Ben Braymer, Aaron Barrett, and Kyle McGowin to Triple-A.