He didn’t take the mound in the postseason. He was subject to trade rumors all winter long. He’s the odd-man out of a stacked starting rotation. A few weeks ago, the New York Yankees weren’t sure what to do with Marcus Stroman. Now, they can’t afford to lose him.
After a long offseason of uncertainty, Stroman caused quite the stir this spring when he no-showed the club’s first two workouts and firmly rejected a potential move to the bullpen. The 33-year-old veteran was adamant that he was a starter and could provide valuable innings to any team. Yankees general manager Brian Cashman agreed, mentioning that the club could end up needing Stroman’s services come Opening Day.
“I agree with him, he is a starter,” general manager Brian Cashman said ahead of the Yankees’ Grapefruit League opener, which Stroman was later named the starter for. “So let’s see how everything plays out. In six weeks of Spring Training, there’s typically a lot of twists and turns and winding roads before you get to Opening Day.”
Cashman was right. On Monday, right-handed starter and reigning AL Rookie of the Year Luis Gil was shut down after suffering a high-grade lat strain on his throwing side. According to Yankee skipper Aaron Boone, the 26-year-old flamethrower won’t start throwing again for at least six weeks.
With Gil sidelined for the foreseeable future, Stroman will likely be re-inserted into the starting rotation alongside Gerrit Cole, Max Fried, Carlos Rodon, and Clarke Schmidt.
Stroman fell out of favor with the Yankee faithful last year after posting an underwhelming 4.31 ERA across 29 starts in his first season wearing pinstripes. He made a three-inning cameo out of the bullpen in September and was left off the ALDS and World Series rosters entirely.
The Yankees were eager to trade Stroman this offseason – not just because of his performance but his $18 million contract that has stalled their offseason spending. As reported by Jon Heyman of the New York Post, the Yanks are “out of loot” and unlikely to spend on additional free agents unless they could absolve the financial burden of Stroman’s contract.
No suitable trade partners emerged and Stroman remained on the roster entering training camp. Awkward, yes. But it could be just what the Yankees need. New York has been bitten by the injury bug early this spring: Gil hurt his shoulder; Giancarlo Stanton injured both his elbows; DJ LeMahieu tweaked his calf; and so on. The Yankees desperately need healthy players – enter, Stroman.
The two-time All-Star is the epitome of reliability, at least from a health standpoint. He has started 30-plus games in four separate seasons throughout his career, and has opened up 25 or more contests every year since 2019. On a team that’s already suffered a slew of injuries this spring, Stroman will be ready to take the mound every fifth day.
It’s also worth mentioning that Stroman’s groundball-inducing style was thwarted by incompetent defense last season, something that even Cashman acknowledged during the offseason. But with a far better defense behind him this year, Stroman’s strengths could bode well for the Yanks in 2025.
Stroman has started two spring games thus far. In the spring opener against the Tampa Bay Rays, he gave up two hits in a scoreless inning of work. He then took the mound on Sunday against the Atlanta Braves, where he threw 43 pitches and gave up four hits across 2.2 frames. Unfortunately for him, those hits were all crushed for extra bases; he gave up back-to-back homers in the first inning and a pair of doubles in the third, ultimately surrendering four earned runs.
