READY, SET... STRO!
Stroman shows off ‘nasty’ stuff, tosses two perfect frames in spring debut
PORT ST. LUCIE — Marcus Stroman is locked in. The righthander, who added a new pitch to his mix, threw two perfect innings including two strikeouts over 30 pitches in the Mets’ 2-0 win over the Astros. He showcased a split-changeup that he learned from teammate Robert Gsellman for the first time Tuesday and was encouraged by the results. Notably, Stroman used the split-changeup to get a swing and miss from four-time All-Star Michael Brantley.
“You never know until you throw it against hitters,” Stroman said on finally using his new pitch against another jersey. “It can feel filthy, it can feel nasty, it can feel like the best pitch ever. But until you actually get out there and throw it in a game and see how hitters react to it, I feel like you can’t actually consider that pitch a weapon until you do so.
“That’s why after throwing it today, I feel like it’s a weapon.”
Stroman was so eager to face off against another uniform that he requested to move up his first Grapefruit League start to Tuesday, the Mets’ exhibition home opener. Initially, he was scheduled to throw a live batting practice and pitch in a simulation game, like Jacob deGrom did Monday and similar to what the team has been doing with starters to build up their pitch counts.
But when the Mets considered Stroman’s request, they couldn’t say no. “We agreed that Stro feels pretty good to go and get those two innings at a higher competitive level,” Mets manager Luis Rojas announced during his pregame presser. “He gets the start today and that’s why we made the late adjustment.”
Right-hander Jordan Yamamoto was originally slated to start Tuesday’s game, but the Mets had him pitch behind Stroman. The new Met threw two innings, recorded a strikeout and gave up two hits. Yamamoto will continue to be stretched out as a starter, even though he made his Mets spring debut out of the bullpen.
Stroman, 29, has not pitched in a major-league game for the Mets since Sept. 27, 2019. He opted out of the 2020 season due to concerns over COVID-19. The Long Island native went 4-2 and posted a 3.77 ERA over 11 starts for the Mets in 2019 after they acquired him from the Blue Jays at the trade deadline.
He cruised through his first five outs before he got into a battle with Astros right fielder Bryan De La Cruz in the second inning. De La Cruz fouled off pitch after pitch from Stroman and it was obvious the pitcher enjoyed it. Stroman smiled after the last foul and sped up his timing in attempt to catch De La Cruz unprepared. Finally, after eight pitches, catcher James McCann called for a pitch on the outside corner and Stroman caught De La Cruz looking with a strikeout. He hopped off the mound and first pumped to end his first outing of spring.
“Man, that was a good at-bat,”
Stroman said. “He had some really good swings on good pitches. Reminded me of a few at-bats I’ve had with [Dustin] Pedroia in my past, man. Just kind of spoil, spoil, spoil. That’s what makes this game so fun, having those battles and getting to that point where you can kind of celebrate and let out at the end.”
Stroman sprinkled in his trademark deception across the 30 pitches he threw on Tuesday. The righty would get in motion, then pause with his left leg in the air for a moment before following through and hurling his pitch. He successfully messed with the Astros’ timing at the plate more than once and plans to continue using his balance and stability to fool opposing hitters in the regular season.
McCann, who recorded his first caught stealing on a strikeem-out throw-em-out double play to end the third inning, said he was ready “at any point in time” for Stroman to disrupt the timing of hitters. The catcher said he enjoys when Stroman gets creative on the mound because it’s one of his strengths.
“I feel like a chameleon,” Stroman said. “I feel like I can kind of do anything and you could put me in any situation and I’m going to thrive.”
Stroman said he held back on Tuesday, since he’s still working his pitch count up, and pitched at 70-75%. Even so, fans saw his fastball velocity sitting at 92-93 mph, which is usually where he tops out in the regular season. Stroman emphasized postgame that he’s “not the prototypical pitcher going into a game saying, ‘I’m going to throw it as hard as I can at the top of the box.’ ” Instead, he depends on his myriad weapons – like the new split-changeup he added to his cutter, sinker and slider.
“You see 99 [mph] get squared up all the time,” Stroman said. “My s--t moves a lot, so I’m not really concerned with velocity. I’ll be able to run a four-seam up there when I want in the mid90s, but I have so many weapons, man. Velocity is something that will never dictate if I’m good or not. My stuff’s nasty, and I’m going to go out there and deal all year.”