Stroman’s set to battle homer revolution
Jays ace doing well to ground hitters eyeing gap, long ball
His MVP teammate at third base is the de facto leader of the popular uprising, but Marcus Stroman shrugs and says bring it on.
The 26-year-old Blue Jays pitcher was in Hamilton Friday and addressed the recent sea change in the way baseball is played: dozens, maybe hundreds, of batters are significantly altering their swings to hit under the ball, increasing their chances of a homer or line drive to the gap.
Josh Donaldson, the 2015 American League MVP, preaches the higher “launch angle” concept and has said a number of times that if he hits a ground ball, even if it finds a hole, “it was an accident.”
Stroman, whose most reliable and frequent pitch is a two-seam fastball (sinker), is perfectly positioned to create such accidents. He, therefore, welcomes the new deification of the upper cut.
He leads all American League pitchers in ground outs, is second in inducing double-play balls, and is third in ground-out to fly ball ratio. Hitters pounded 2.33 times as many ground balls against him as they do fly balls.
Hitters who drive the ball to the outfield tend to hit more home runs, and therefore stay in the game longer and are paid more. Unless every defender faints, a ground ball never becomes a home run. And basic arithmetic (there are more infielders than outfielders) and geometry (there is more space in the outfield than the infield) suggests a ball in the air has a better chance of becoming a hit.
“I had a conversation earlier today with my best friend about how it’s the era of the homer, exit velocity and getting the angle of the swing to get the ball in the air,” said the undersized Stroman, who’s anchoring the rotation with a 7-2 record.
“When I’m at my best, I’m keeping them on the ground. So when I’m throwing that sinker well, they’re swinging at it. But they’re essentially swinging on top of it and hitting the ball into the ground. When I feel like I’m on, I’m able to kind of negate that homer effect.
“So when my sinker’s good I feel I can throw it to anyone, on any count, and not have them hit it in the air.”
The key phrase there, of course, is “when I’m on” and this year he’s been on. One of the very few pitchers under six feet, the fiercely competitive and demonstrative Stroman has been a constant in a Jays’ rotation beset by injury and inconsistency.
He said he recognized the shifting philosophy in hitters’ approach a couple of years ago (when it took root, with the help of better statistical and visual tracking data) and it isn’t just the sinker he uses to try to counter the culture.
“You’re seeing more leg kicks from batters, more guys wanting to hit homers. I feel there’s less of an emphasis of putting the ball in play and more of an emphasis on hitting for power numbers; extra base hits; slugging percentage; OPS (on-base, plus slugging percentage). So guys are taking that approach to their atbats, not necessarily trying to hit a single, they’re trying to hit the ball to the gap, they’re trying to hit the ball out of the park.
“The leg kick allows them to create a lot more energy, a lot more torque, a lot more power. It allows them to hit the ball farther. To combat that, that’s why I do things such as holding my leg up and messing with the timing of my delivery to mess with their leg kick and their timing.”
Stroman was in town to help Hamilton-based Cargojet — Canada Post’s exclusive package carrier — celebrate the images of Canada150 commemorative stamps advertised on the outside of their planes.
Cargojet CEO Ajay Virmani “has been my mentor,” Stroman says, in his exploration of acquiring dual (he’s American) citizenship here.
“I love being here, I love everything about Canada and Toronto. I come back in the off-season. I love everything Canada embodies and I feel that at some point in the future I might own property here. Getting dual residency between here and the States is a good play.”