BUT A LITTLE HELP WOULDN’T HURT
DOING nothing can’t be an option.
No option ranks as a slamdunk, can’t-miss, blame-the-baseball-gods-if-it-doesn’t-work situation.
Such is the vise in which the Yankees find themselves as they approach the July 31 trade deadline, understanding full well that their pitching requires an upgrade. That vise turned Sunday in an interesting way, if nothing else, when they saw Marcus Stroman put on one hell of an audition right in front of them.
Stroman is not 2017 Justin Verlander, nor 2014 Jon Lester, nor 2008 CC Sabathia, to name three ace-level starting pitchers of recent vintage who switched teams midseason and excelled. Yet the diminutive righthand er, a Long Island native, must merit ultra-serious consideration from the Yankees right now because of these two significant assets: He possesses high upside, and he em braces the stage and the moment.
“I know I can compete with anybody out there,” Stroman said after taking the loss in the Yankees’ 4-2 victory over the Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium. “I would give myself the ball in any big-time situation.”
In his first appearance since June 29, having been sidelined by a left shoulder pectoral cramp, Stroman allowed three runs and seven hits to the Yankees’ solid lineup, walking two and striking out seven over six innings. That doesn’t tell the whole story, though. The seven hits broke down this way: Six singles, four of them on the ground, and a double. The Yankees didn’t so much as reach the wall against Stroman, or hit a fly ball to the warning track. The ground-ball specialist (a quality the Yankees really like) lost on a fifthinning wild pitch that his catcher
Danny Jansen retrieved in time to tag out Gio Urshela at home plate, only to muff the tag.
Stroman’s fastball, having averaged 92.7 mph prior to Sunday (thanks, FanGraphs), averaged above 93 mph and reached as high as 95.5 mph (thanks, Brooks Baseball Pitchf/x). His slider looked particularly nasty, as the Yankees swung at 14 of them and missed six. “I truly believe that I always get stronger as the year goes on,” said Stroman, whose ERA actually ticked upward to 3.25. “I’ve always been a second-half pitcher. I think I’m going to have a pretty special second half. My body feels great. My arm feels great.”
(Fact check: Yup, Stroman now possesses a career second-half 3.37 ERA compared to 4.14 in the first half.)
The “fit” risk comes, as The Post’s Joel Sherman recently detailed, in whether Stroman, who can be flamboyant and has some detractors, would get too caught up in the noise that exists here.
The Yankees won’t make this important decision in a vacuum, naturally. Scouts from the Phillies, Cubs, Braves, Padres and Red Sox witnessed Stroman’s effort. And the Yankees surely will continue to engage on pitchers such as the Indians’ Trevor Bauer and the Diamondbacks’ Robbie Ray as well as Stroman; they haven’t appeared as interested in Giants legend Madison Bumgarner.
The Blue Jays, with a strong core of position players, would prefer to get pitching in return for their pieces like Stroman, closer Ken Giles and shortstop Freddy Galvis. Most of the Yankees’ top trade chips reside at the lower levels of the minor leagues, which shouldn’t be a problem for the Jays, who are eyeing 2020 as another rebuilding season.
In the wake of a strong, victorious start by Masahiro Tanaka, Aaron Boone ardently defended his starting rotation in his postgame news conference.
“I feel like it’s been underrated all year and underappreciated,” the Yankees manager said.
While no harm in saying that stuff, we all know the pitfalls of the current quintet, and that no guarantee exists in Luis Severino’s latest comeback effort set to start Monday with a game of catch. The Yankees need more options in order to attain their goal.
They’ll do something soon to loosen the vise’s grip. It’ll take another three months, however, to extract themselves altogether. Stroman seems as good a bet as anyone else out there to make that happen.