The Giants placed right-handed reliever Hunter Strickland on the paternity list on for the club’s weekend series against the San Diego Padres the team announced Friday. The club called up left-handed reliever Steven Okert to replace Strickland, who was expected to make the big league club out of camp, from their Triple-A affiliate Sacramento River Cats.
Strickland will return to the Bay Area Friday to join his wife, Shelly, who is expecting the couples’ first child according to Andrew Baggarly of the Bay Area News Group.
The Strickland’s have talked openly about the difficulty they’ve had trying to start a family, and have attempted in-vitro fertilization twice.
“We’re seeing specialists and doctor after doctor for 2 ½ years,” Hunter Strickland said. “We went through IVF and it failed twice. It’s a matter of letting go and trusting, God willing, it will happen.”
Okert posted a 3.21 ERA in 16 relief appearances last season, and will now join Ty Blach as one of two left-handers in the Giants’ bullpen. Okert was impressive in the spring, with a 0.93 ERA in 11 appearances.