READY TO STRO!
Mets’ Stroman says he’s in great shape and can’t wait to get going
PORT ST. LUCIE — Maybe it’s the New York attitude. Maybe it’s how he was raised. Regardless of how the belief in himself began, Marcus Stroman is not shy about being, arguably, the most confident player in the Mets’ clubhouse.
“I’m excited for this year,” he said on Thursday. “I think I’m going to be good — really good. I think I should be dominant.”
Stroman’s unwavering tenacity is exactly what the Mets need in a rotation that lost Zack Wheeler to the Phillies via a free agent deal in December.
The right-hander’s goals for the upcoming season include throwing at least 200 innings, winning a championship, punching out more batters and keeping his walk rate low. Last season, Stroman posted a 3.22 ERA and 4.1 WAR in 32 combined starts and 184.1 innings pitched between New York and Toronto.
It took Stroman more than a handful of starts to get acclimated in the National League, but his finish to the 2019 season shows promise for 2020. He found his footing against the Diamondbacks, Rockies, Reds and Braves in his final four starts of the year, recording a 1.88 ERA and holding opponents to a .200 batting average and .540 OPS.
“I love the team that I’m on, I love the squad, I truly think we’re special and we can do special things this year,” Stroman said. “Everyone in the clubhouse believes that. We’re doing everything in our power to show up every day and get that going. We want to be playing in October, that’s the goal, and every single person knows we have that capability.”
Brodie Van Wagenen has previously said his game plan for 2020’s rotation actually began last July — when he picked up Stroman from the Blue Jays at the trade deadline. At the time, the acquisition of Stroman, while holding onto Wheeler for the rest of the year, was surprising. When the Mets entered the trade deadline a handful of games under .500, Stroman was expected to land with a playoff contender like the starter-desperate Yankees.
The GM’s strategy of cornering the market, then shifting the focus to depth starters like Rick Porcello and Michael Wacha, centers chiefly on a dominant 2020 season from Stroman.
The Long Island native has since welcomed the pressure to fill Wheeler’s shoes.
“I’m extremely prepared,” Stroman said. “My body is extremely stable, extremely strong. My mind is extremely calm. I’m kind of prepared for whatever, to be honest with you.”
Stroman’s game plan on the mound starts with his mentality — which he said helps him become “unstoppable.” The 28-year-old prides himself on his work ethic, most notably in the weight room. Former Blue Jays trainer Nikki Huffman, the second woman to ever serve as head athletic trainer by a team in one of North America’s four major sports leagues, left Toronto to start her own business last year — which includes being Stroman’s personal trainer.
Huffman and Stroman have been linked since their days at Duke University, where she helped him recover from a torn ACL in his left knee in 2015.
“She’s incredible,” Stroman said. “So I kind of listen to her. She knows my body better than anyone.”
Stroman’s offseason work included core work, stability, mobility, flexibility and balancing a glass full of wine on his back as he crawled on all fours. Stroman said the bear crawl, something he was able to do without spilling a single drop of wine, is how he tested his level of stability.
“I think I have the best core in the league. I do,” he said. “I put a lot of work into that. I’m extremely stable. I’m 5-feet-7-inches, so I need to get everything possible out of my body, and I figured it out to know how every part of my body needs to work to be elite out there.”
The Mets gave up Nos. 4 and 6 minor-league pitching prospects Anthony Kay and Simeon Woods Richardson for Stroman, who joined the Mets after being selected to his first All-Star Game on a 6-11 record and 2.96 ERA over 21 starts for Toronto in 2019.
He’s under contract for the Mets through the 2020 season and made $12 million through arbitration this past winter, up from the $7.4 million he earned in 2019. Stroman said he’s not too focused on free agency, but he’s excited for the opportunity it presents.
“Free agency will take care of itself,” he said. “It’s all been manifested already and it will all play out how it’s supposed to play out.”
New manager Luis Rojas first saw Stroman pitch in person when Team USA defeated the Dominican Republic during the 2017 World Baseball Classic. Stroman pitched 4.2 scoreless innings with just three hits allowed and four strikeouts in the U.S. win.
“A lot of fun watching Marcus,” Rojas said. “Getting to know him, I never met him before [last year], but the energy that he brought to the team, you guys can see it, it’s contagious.”