Stroman’s rage part of learning curve
It will be tough for emotional 24year-old Marcus Stroman to be the main man in the starting rotation on a Blue Jays team defending its division crown, and it will be tough for him to lead when he less-than-diplomatically wears his rage and frustration on his sleeve every five days.
And it’s just as tough for Stroman to appear convincing in explaining his public displays of disaffection when they are chronicled on television for all to see, as they were on Monday against the White Sox.
But former Jays catcher Dioner Navarro, now with the Sox, is not worried.
“He’s just who he is and he’s an emotional guy,” Navarro said. “Everybody shows their emotions different ways. Sometimes different people take the wrong perspective about things, but at the same time, he (has nasty stuff ), man. I faced him for the first time (Monday) and he’s got great movement on all of his pitches. Hopefully, he does well.
“I believe his career is really, really bright.”
Stroman had to answer some tough questions following a game he led 5-1 into the seventh, a game he and the bullpen squandered into a 7-5 loss. He was lifted from the fray with two outs and the bases-loaded in the seventh. After Brett Cecil allowed the first two runners to score, Stroman turned and pounded his right fist into the dugout bench.
When Gavin Floyd entered and gave up his third and final inherited runner on a bases-clearing double, Stroman stormed down the dugout to the tunnel past his teammates. Not even good friend Aaron Sanchez said a word or tried to tap him on the way past.
Stroman insisted the anger was directed at himself but, if that was the case, why not vent as soon as he came out of the game rather than when teammates gave up his runs? The optics were not good. Earlier in the season while on the hill Stroman yelled and gestured at Michael Saunders in left for playing a fly ball into a double, and in another game the pitcher glared at Ryan Goins for booting a rare grounder at second.
Navarro, who has been around, believes the public perception is worse than the players view.
“Just let it be,” Navarro said of how hard-wired players react to those situations. “If you are a teammate you’d understand. That’s where people have the misconception. We have 25 guys here, guys from differ- ent places, different backgrounds, different cultures, different beliefs. Not everybody’s going to be the same. It would be boring if every day is the same.
“When you’ve got guys like that, just let them be, you know. That’s how they are. As long as they don’t interfere with the game. Obviously, you’ve got to draw the line and it’s up to that person to find out where the line is. I know it will be taken care of having guys like Jose (Bautista), (Edwin) Encarnacion, (Josh) Donaldson.
“They’ve got everything under control.”
If you look at that viewpoint, circumstances through Stroman’s first five starts have encouraged these understandable feelings of frustration, sometimes beyond his control. On Opening Day, in the ninth inning, he gave up a homer and a single and his one inherited runner came around to score.
On April 8, Stroman left in the sixth with the bases loaded and Jesse Chavez promptly gave up a grand slam. On April 19, Stroman yielded a single and a two-run homer to Mark Trumbo in the eighth with nobody out and was then removed.
Finally, Monday’s game against the Chisox.
All seven runners he has left on base have come around to score. In the final inning of his starts this season Stroman’s ERA is 30.00. Frustration? In all, Navarro has caught for seven different MLB teams during his 13 MLB seasons. He caught two of the best current pitching aces when they were 24-years-old — David Price in Tampa and Clayton Kershaw in L.A., and he caught Price again in 2015.
Navarro sees comparisons with Stroman.
“Actually Kershaw could be a mix between Stroman and Price, which are really fiery, but are really, really conscious of what they do,” Navarro said.
“They are really mathematical of what they do. When (Marcus) got called up, he was more of a fireballer. He threw a lot of four-seamers and he was 95-96 (m.p.h.). Now he’s in the lower 90s and throwing a lot of sinkers and stuff. He’s pitching now. He’s starting to get it and having guys behind (the plate) like Russ (Martin) and (Josh) Thole that have been around, that kind of helps him out.
“I can obviously see Stroman being the guy here.”
The three youngest acknowledged No. 1 starters in the AL are Stroman, who turns 25 on Sunday, Sonny Gray of the Athletics at 26 and Chris Archer of the Rays at 27.