The Ever-Adapting Marcus Stroman Continues to Impress
Over nine starts since September 2019, Stro's got a 2.33 ERA with a 52.6% groundball rate and 0.78 homers allowed per nine innings; that'll play
No one knows their body better than themselves.
Following his rain-shortened, nine-pitch start versus Miami on Sunday that apparently only you, me, and a few million other fans watching the weather radar saw coming, Mets right-hander Marcus Stroman was all but shelved until Friday in Colorado.
That would have been par for the course. A lot more than those nine pitches went into Stroman ramping up for his suspended outing last weekend.
A wait-and-see approach was always the prudent course, but there would have been no issue with Stroman waiting the full five days until his next turn.
On Monday, the 29-year-old played catch, took inventory of where he was at physically, huddled with his trainer and coaches, and decided that he would indeed be ready to take the hill in the second game of Tuesday’s doubleheader against the Phillies.
“This guy works so hard,” Mets manager Luis Rojas said after the game. “He’s in unbelievable shape. That’s why he was able to bounce back after Sunday’s [suspended game]. After a day, he said he felt good and look what he did [on Tuesday]. He did a really good job.”
It’s safe to say that decision worked out well.
Over six shutout innings, Stroman kept Philadelphia hitters off-balance and at-bay, striking out three, walking none, and using his complete pitch arsenal to its full potential.
After showcasing his newly-added split-fingered changeup often throughout the spring and offering seven over his first start versus the Phillies on April 6, Stroman shifted away from that approach on Tuesday, throwing just three split-changes over the course of his outing.
Stro’s four-seamer was on greater display this time around, and to terrific results, garnering a 40% whiff rate on 13 pitches thrown. Keep ‘em guessing…
As is always the case with Stroman, deception played a big part in his success on Tuesday. He mixed up his sinker, slider, and cutter well (40%, 22%, 20% usage, respectively), staying low in the zone and inducing 13 groundballs on the evening.
This is Stroman’s modus operandi. He will outthink you and hit his spots with all five pitches.
“It’s just a matter of mentally locking it in. Going out, attacking our game plan,” Stroman said regarding his performance. “I feel like I have plenty of pitches in my repertoire to be able to attack anybody in any count between my sinker, four-seam, cutter, slider, change.”
His manager also lauded the right-hander’s work. Not just on Tuesday, but in a more general manner.
“Remember when [Stroman] got to us a couple of years ago, I mean, his stuff is better than then,” Rojas said. “I think by him expanding his repertoire and having actually those other pitches, that’s real weapons. The split-changeup and that four-seam, those things help his primary pitches […] even more now.”
This is accurate, as discussed above.
Stroman is a vital piece of this team’s success quotient. We’ve spoken about this here many times.
Without Carlos Carrasco and Noah Syndergaard in the rotation, and even when they return, Marcus Stroman bringing ace-level stuff when his turn comes around — in any slot, for that matter — only increases the Mets’ chances of succeeding.
All good things.
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