Marcus Stroman: 2019 Mets Pitcher (2019-2020)

Marcus  Earl Stroman was born May 1st 1991 on Long Island, in Medford, New York. His parents divorced when he was in the 5th grade. His father is a Suffolk County detective. 

He was very close to his grand mother & she regularly attended his high school games.

The five foot seven, right hander, attended Patchogue high school in Medford, Long Island. He was an outstanding pitcher & all around star baseball player. He would face his current Mets team mate, Steven Matz who also grew up on Long Island.

Stroman was drafted by the Washington Nationals in 2009 but did sign, instead electing to go to college at Duke University. 

At Duke he pitched & set a Duke career record for strike outs (290 in 222 innings). He also played second base & short stop in his Duke years. In 2012 he became the first Duke player to get drafted in the first round. He was the 22nd pick overall, selected by the Toronto Blue Jays.

Blue Jays Career: Stroman debuted on May 4th, 2014 in an inter league game at Pittsburgh. He came in the 8th inning in relief, giving up a run. In his next relief appearance, he earned his first career victory pitching the 9th & 10th innings at Philadelphia. 

By May 3st, he was in the rotation, in his first start, he beat the Kansas City Royals, then won his second as well. On September 8th, he pitched a complete game three hit, shut out, beating the Chicago Cubs. 

Later in the month he intentionally threw at Baltimore's Caleb Joseph & was suspended for six games. He would finish the year in the bullpen. In his first season at 11-6 with 111 strike outs in 130 innings, posting a 3.65 ERA.

In Spring Training 2015, he tore his ACL & needed surgery. He was shut down for most of the year, returning by September. In his time off he went back to Duke & earned his degree in Sociology. When he returned to the mound he went 40 with a 1.67 ERA.

Post Season: That year the Jays won the AL East & Stroman got to pitch in his first post season. He pitched seven innings of Game #1 of the ALDS loss to the Texas Rangers earning no decision. He got the call for the series ending Game #5, going 6 innings allowing two runs striking out four. He got no decision but the Jays advanced to the ALCS.

In Game #3 he got the win, in a wild, 11-8 Toronto win, over the Kansas City Royals at Skydome. Stroman allowed four runs on eleven hits but still won the game. The Royals won the series, advancing to the World Series to play the New York Mets.

In 2016, he was the Jays Opening Day starter, he pitched eight innings to beat the Tampa Rays. He had a good start to the year at 4-0, but finished at 9-10 on the year. J.A. Happ, Aaron Sanchez & R.A. Dickey all won more games than him in the staff. 

His ERA was 4.37, but he had the leagues highest ground ball % & the leagues lowest fly ball %.  as he made 32 appearances. That year he had a career high 204 innings pitched. 

2016 Post Season: That year the Jays tied the Baltimore Orioles for second place & both teams won the wild card spots. Stroman pitched six innings in the Wild Card Game, he struck out six, allowing two runs on four hits. The Jays won the game, but he got no decision. 

He was scheduled to start Game #4 of the ALDS but Toronto swept the Texas Rangers in three games. He took a loss to the Cleveland Indians in the ALCS Game #3 at Toronto. The Indians advanced to the World Series in five games.

He started out 2017, with a few exciting days at the plate. On April 25th, he was sent up in a pinch hit role & doubled, becoming the first Toronto pitcher to ever have a pinch hit. 

On May 18th, he became the second Toronto pitcher in team history, to ever hit a HR. His HR followed a HR from his catcher Luke Maile, making them the first battery to hit back to back HRs, since 1970.The blast came off Julio Tehran of the Atlanta Braves. In that game he shut out the Braves for seven innings earning the win.

From late April into mid June he went on a personal six game win streak & lowered his ERA to 3.09. The Jays fell to fourth place that year & Stroman was the ace of the staff & was voted the teams Pitcher of the Year. 

He had career highs in win (13) & starts (33). The 33 starts were 3rd most in the AL. For the second year in a row he tossed over 200 innings & posted a 3.09 ERA (fourth best in the AL). He walked a career high 62 batters (10th most in the AL). He allowed the fourth most HRs per nine innings for the second straight year. Defensively he won the Gold Glove award, as he also led all pitchers in assists & would do so the next year as well.

In the 2018 off season he lost his arbitration case & started out badly on the year. By the end of May he 0-5 with a 7.71 ERA, he had given up at least four runs in all his starts. He was placed on the 10 DL with shoulder fatigue. He was back in the rotation by late June. 

On June 29th he finally earned his first win. He would have to leave games twice during the summer due to blisters & made his last start of the year on September 3rd. It was his worst season going 4-9 with a 5.54 ERA in just 19 starts.

He was still the Blue Jays Opening Day starter in 2019, getting no decision. He lost his first three decisions, but just gave up two runs & the three runs in those starts. 

On April 14th, he gave up three runs, all unearned but still took a loss. On April 19th, he beat the A's in Oakland, getting credit for his first win. Although he ended April 1-3, his ERA was just 1.43.

In May he lost another three straight and was 1-6, although his ERA was just 3.12 He kept in below three until early June, picking up wins against Boston & San Diego to get to 3-6. At the All Star break he was 5-9 with a 3.18 ERA, among the leagues best. He got selected to his first All Star game but did not pitch.

Mets Career: In July, the trade rumors heated up & he was going to go some where. To everyone's surprise he was traded to the New York Mets. Mets GM Brodie Van Wagen pulled off the deal, as the Mets were in the midst of turning their season around. 

All of a sudden the Mets won 14 of 15 games & were in the thick of the wild card hunt. Stroman joined am already strong staff of that year's Cy Young winner, Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Steven Matz & Zack Wheeler.

Stroman was happy to be on the Mets & thrilled to be back near his home. 
He made his first Mets start on August 3rd at Pittsburgh. He allowed three runs on three hits in 4.1 innings. The Mets did go on to win the game & start an eight game win streak, but he got no decision.

His next start came at home at Citi Field against the Nationals, where he had many family & friends in attendance.  Although he struck out a season high nine batters, he gave up four runs & HR to Juan Soto, exiting in tie game after six innings. 

With the Mets down 6-3 in the 9th inning, Todd Frazier tied the game with a three run HR off Sean Doolittle & Michael Conforto's won it with an exciting walk off single.

On August 15th, he earned his first Mets win. It came in Atlanta in a 10-8 Mets win, breaking their four game losing streak after winning 14 of 15. 

In his next start he allowed just one run, but pitched just four innings, leaving the game early. On August 27th, the Cubs roughed him up for a pair of HRs & four runs, giving him his first Mets official loss. After a no decision at Philadelphia, the Phils roughed him up at Citi Field with four earned runs & ten hits in a 5-0 loss.

Although the Mets were to drop out of the wild card race, Stroman personally got himself adjusted & on track. On September 12th, he allowed just one run to Arizona, earning the victory as the Mets swept the d-backs in four games at Citi Field. 

On September 17th, he shut out the Rockies for seven innings in Colorado to earn his second straight win. After a no decision, he won his last start in the first game of a Mets series sweep of the Braves. It was the game Pete Alonso tied the rookie HR mark, a record he would break the next night.

Stroman closed out the year 10-13 with a 3.22 overall ERA. He struck out 159 & walked 58 in 184 innings in 32 starts. With the Mets he was 4-2 with a 3.77 ERA, striking out 60 batters in 59.9 innings, with 23 walks. At the plate he is 1-21with two runs scored.

In his career, he is 51-47 with a 3.76 ERA, striking out 695 batters walking 244 in 849 innings in 146 games, 140 starts. At the plate he is a .105 hitter with a HR & an RBI.

Trivia: At six years old he was on the Nickelodeon game show, Figure It Out.

Stroman also has produced caps for New Era that feature his trademarks.

Stroman said he will give up his uniform #7 in honor of Jose Reyes & will don #0 in 2020.