Marcus Stroman might not be the pitcher most New York Yankees fans were dreaming of.
They were surely eager to see Blake Snell or even the return of Jordan Montgomery.
The market, however, doesn’t always behave the way fans would want.
Sometimes, teams are forced to pivot to other alternatives, and that’s what the Yankees did when they signed Stroman.
Instead of handing out another deal close to $200 million, they opted to sign Stroman for $37 million over two years.
Stroman, however, is a very competent pitcher with a career 3.65 ERA.
He finished at 3.95 last year with the Chicago Cubs; and the last time he posted an ERA over 4.00 was in 2018.
He pitches to contact with his incredible sinker, generating tons of ground balls, although he has developed a split-change in recent seasons that also helps him get some swings and misses and, subsequently, strikeouts.
There is more than just pitching when it comes to Stroman, though.
Take a look at this, courtesy of Codify Baseball:
So nice for the Yankees to have 5 infielders when Stro pitches.pic.twitter.com/N36tNJwuDJ
— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) January 15, 2024
As they say, whenever Stroman is on the mound, they will effectively have five infielders.
He is that good defensively.
Stroman is a natural athlete, and combined with his arm strength, he can make plays in the infield that most pitchers can’t.
He won a Gold Glove award in 2017, and has always been a phenomenal fielder with amazing reflexes and shocking elasticity.
It’s definitely an underrated skill of his, one that will likely help the Yankees prevent some runs when he is on the hill.
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