The “Minor” Trade That Might Reshape the Diamondbacks Bullpen
The Diamondbacks landed Kade Strowd, a high-upside arm with excellent stuff but needs some tweaks before taking on a big role in their bullpen.
The Arizona Diamondbacks swung a deal that looks minor at first glance, but carries major implications as early as the 2026 season. Sending infielder Blaze Alexander to the Orioles, general manager Mike Hazen brought back a reliever and two prospects. However, that reliever could be the key to building a stronger bullpen for 2026 and beyond.
One weakness in the Diamondbacks’ organization is a lack of stuff in their pitching pipeline. Strowd addresses that problem for their bullpen immediately, with a deep mix of fastballs and high-quality breaking pitches. He has a great chance to break camp in the Opening Day bullpen and perhaps move his way to a leverage role as the season progresses. And it could be an opportunity that opens up sooner rather than later.
Here’s a breakdown of the Diamondbacks’ newest reliever and what he brings to the table.
Kade Strowd’s Stuff is Excellent, But Not Properly Utilized
Normally, a reliever who didn’t debut until 28 doesn’t draw many headlines. But Strowd impressed in his major league debut. In his first 25 games, he pitched to a 1.71 ERA in 26.2 innings.
Expected metrics support the right-hander’s run prevention. Strowd yielded a .192 xBA and a 2.80 xERA. That was done largely with contact suppression. He induced an excellent, bordering on elite ground ball rate (56.7%) and a 31.3% hard-hit rate. That translated into an elite barrel rate, given that hitters couldn’t elevate or square up his pitches.
However, there is a soft underbelly in his metrics. Strowd didn’t post great strikeout (22.9%) and walk (12.4%) rates. That’s something that seems incongruent with the above-average chase and whiff rates in his Statcast metrics.
So digging further, there’s a platoon split in Strowd’s 2025 numbers.
Vs. LHH: .176/.216/.206, 35.1 K%, 5.4 BB%
Vs. RHH: .179/.324/.232, 16.2 K%, 16.2 BB%
Typically, you don’t see this type of platoon split for a right-handed reliever, especially one like Strowd. It’s important to take it with a grain of salt, as he’s only faced 105 hitters (68 RHH and 37 LHH) at the major league level. It’s unlikely to hold long-term.
But when looking at his pitch usage, there’s a clear indicator of a poorly-utilized arsenal.
Looking at the arsenal, his usage against left-handed hitters makes sense. A four-seamer, cutter, and curveball are considered platoon-neutral pitches. Against right-handers, he still heavily relies on that cutter and less on platoon-heavy pitches such as the sinker and sweeper. In theory, emphasizing those two pitches more against right-handers should yield better results.
But it isn’t as simple as that, and it’s important to understand Strowd’s arsenal first.
Kade Strowd’s Arsenal Explained
Strowd “cuts” his four-seamer, as seen by an 80% spin efficiency. By cutting his fastball, it reduces the horizontal break to just 1.2” arm-side while retaining the impressive 16.6” of induced vertical break. That makes it a better fastball for working the top of the zone. It’s no surprise it grades well in the Stuff+ metric, registering a 117 on Eno Sarris’ model (via FanGraphs).
A pitcher who cuts his fastball like that should also learn to throw a sinker and a cutter. Strowd is already ahead of the curve in that regard. The sinker is pushing dead-zone fastball territory, a movement profile that hitters feast on, with 11.3” iVB and 13.7” arm-side run. That makes it arguably the weakest offering in his arsenal, but there’s enough separation from his four-seamer. The two fastballs have a much different movement profile at the same velocity (4-Seamer 95.8 MPH, Sinker 96.3 MPH). It’s not a great offering in a vacuum (102 Stuff+), but it adds more depth to the arsenal.
The cutter might be the most interesting pitch in the arsenal. Its movement profile is very similar to a slider (4.3” iVB, 5.3” glove-side break). Considering the shape and velocity, it might be classified more as a “Slutter”, a hybrid cutter/slider pitch type named by former Diamondbacks starter Zac Gallen. It has cutter-like velocity (91.7 MPH) with a slider-like break. That makes it an interesting offering, as he can morph it into more of a cutter against lefties and more of a slider against righties.
The two finishing pitches are his two breaking balls. Both his curveball (137) and sweeper (135) rank well in Stuff+ metrics. The curveball is arguably the best pitch of his arsenal, with elite spin (2,959 RPM) and movement. It has tremendous depth (-13.2” iVB, 53.0” drop) and sweep (14.0” glove-side break). That’s a similar movement profile to Framber Valdez, who signed a $115 million contract with the Tigers.
The sweeper might be the key to unlocking more out of Strowd’s approach vs. right-handed hitters. It has a great shape, with -2.2” iVB and 16.5” glove-side break. It’s a righty-exclusive pitch (70/71 sweepers vs. RHH), but might not be used as cohesively as it could be considering how his cutter behaves.
Tweaking Strowd’s Approach Against RHH
If I’m Brian Kaplan, I don’t touch Strowd’s approach against left-handed hitters. Even with 37 career hitters, the metrics are excellent, and the pitch usage makes sense intuitively. Instead, the focus should be on getting better results against right-handed hitters.
Strowd can stretch the zone on hitters vertically between the four-seamer and curveball. But against right-handers, he has the added benefit of attacking them horizontally. The cutter and sweeper are nearly redundant, as both pitches break glove-side. But the bigger speed and movement difference of the sweeper may better serve his arsenal. He’ll need to set it up by commanding the inside part of the zone with his sinker to open up that lane.
I think it’s a case where Strowd needs to reduce his cutter usage in favor of more four-seamers, sinkers, sweepers, and curveballs. This might be a better idea.
Four-seamer 20% (top of the zone, set up sinkers in)
Sinker 25% (backdoor or pound hitters in)
Sweeper 25% (strike-to-ball, get chases away)
Curveball 10% (strike-to-ball, get chases down)
Cutter 15% (strike-to-ball, get chases away or down)
Usage of his cutter vs. sweeper may depend on the hitter and their swing path. That’s a solution for the Diamondbacks’ run-prevention team to solve when they come up with game plans for relievers. A hitter with a steeper attack angle may be more susceptible to the more horizontal sweeper, while a hitter with a flatter approach might require the slutter. It will be important for the Diamondbacks’ catchers (James McCann and Gabriel Moreno) to consider matchups when calling the right mix of pitches to attack a hitter.
If Strowd can improve his results against right-handed hitters, he’ll develop into a leverage arm for the Diamondbacks. With no settled roles entering this spring, it presents a great opportunity for the right-hander to seize a key role. That, in turn, should help Arizona build a stronger bullpen that they hope will come close to full strength down the stretch.
Should he reach his ceiling, he carries six years of control. Given that bullpen construction has been Hazen’s biggest issue since taking over the Diamondbacks’ baseball operations, this trade should help solve that puzzle.
All pitch clips courtesy of Baseball Savant