Phillies reliever Matt Strahm won’t be in the Hall of Fame, but his belt might

MINNEAPOLIS — Matt Strahm knows that he probably isn’t getting into the Hall of Fame.

His belt, however, has a chance.

Strahm, a Phillies reliever, wore a custom-designed belt made out of his baseball cards last week at the All-Star Game. A few days ago, the Hall of Fame contacted his friend and fellow card collector, Brandon Verzal, and asked if he would pass along a question: Would Strahm donate the belt to the museum in Cooperstown, N.Y.?

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“I said,’ Absolutely!’ ” Strahm said Wednesday before the Phillies’ series finale in Minnesota. “My brother asked me, ‘Are you going to give it to them?’ I said, ‘It’s probably my only way in there. Of course I’ll give it to them. What do you mean?’ If they want it, yeah, I would love to display it there.”

Strahm, a first-time All-Star and avid card collector, said it’s “not 100% yet.” But he’s hopeful the Hall of Fame will follow through on its request. Officials from the Hall travel around the country during the season and collect artifacts for the museum.

The belt, handcrafted by a company called Card Belts, included parallel variations of Strahm’s first Phillies card, in addition to a Topps Now card from his series-clinching save in last year’s division series against the Braves.

But Strahm’s favorite part of the belt is the buckle because the card that aligned with it is an image variation of him flashing an “I love you” sign to his daughter. He recently tried to buy the card in an online auction but fell 50 cents short when the bidding expired while the Phillies were taking batting practice.

The cards for the belt were submitted by Verzal, which has led Strahm to jokingly wonder whether he got it.

“I’ve still got to ask Brandon if he won that on eBay or not,” said Strahm, who hosts a regional TV show, “The Card Life,” that Verzal produces. “I haven’t asked him that yet.”

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It has been a hectic week for Strahm, who grew up about three hours by car from Minneapolis in West Fargo, N.D. He was a Twins fan, with a special affinity for then-closer “Everyday” Eddie Guardado.

Strahm had a rooting section of about 75 family and friends Tuesday night’s game, in which he pitched a scoreless ninth inning to record his first save of the season.

“It’s crazy to come full circle,” Strahm said. “I grew up watching at the Metrodome.”

After the All-Star Game, Topps made about 1,800 cards of Strahm’s belt.

“I put in an order of 100,” he said. “It’s cool. Now I need a belt of the belt.”

Injured right-hander Taijuan Walker has noticed an improvement to his signature splitter since he resumed throwing in the past few weeks.

“The consistency is a lot better now than it was,” Walker said. “I feel like I’ll throw eight good ones, one bad one, and back to eight good ones. So, that’s feeling good. But also it’s [in] the bullpen. Things can always feel good in the bullpen. We’ll see when I face hitters.”

Walker has been sidelined since June 23 with an inflamed right index finger that was affecting his grip on the splitter. He threw a bullpen session Tuesday in Minnesota and is scheduled to face hitters in a live batting practice setting Saturday at Citizens Bank Park.

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The Phillies haven’t provided a timetable for Walker. They expect him to return next month, at which point they likely will use a six-man rotation. But Walker will need to make a few minor-league starts before coming back, so it’s doubtful he will be ready during an upcoming 10-game trip to Seattle, Los Angeles, and Arizona.

One-third of Walker’s pitches last season were splitters, and opponents batted .205 and slugged .295 against it. He has used the splitter only 17% of the time this year, with opponents teeing off for a .426 average and .704 slugging.

“The finger does feel better, but I think just throwing it more, I’m getting more confident and comfortable with it,” said Walker, who has a 5.60 ERA in 10 starts. “I was throwing the slider and cutter a lot, so I kind of just lost feel for the splitter doing that. I’ve been really focused on four-seams and splitters now.”

Crazy stat alert: Through Tuesday, the Phillies won 26 consecutive games in which the starting pitcher went at least seven innings, the second-longest streak in baseball history. The 1942 Cardinals won 42 games in a row when the starter went seven innings. … The Phillies announced the signings of three more draft picks: outfielders Griffin Burkholder (second round), John Spikerman (third round), and Carter Mathison (fifth round). … After a day off, Cristopher Sánchez (7-5, 2.97 ERA) will start Friday night at home against Guardians righty Ben Lively (8-6, 3.57), who pitched for the Phillies in 2017-18.