Hours before the Yankees’ series-opener against the Giants on Friday, Aaron Boone was asked what he’s seen from Marcus Stroman, who entered the game with a 7.27 ERA over his first two starts.
“Mostly good,” the manager initially replied before going on about the quality movement of Stroman’s pitches and the velo-missing right-hander’s need to work the edges and avoid walks.
Hours later, Stroman looked mostly bad in a 9-1 loss to the Giants that began late and ended early due to rain delays. Actually, it was all awful for the veteran, as Stroman only recorded two outs over 46 pitches before Boone pulled him from the game. As Boone pulled him, the righty told his skipper his right knee was bugging him.
Stroman walked off the soggy mound, a light crowd loudly booed the Long Island native.
Stroman’s abysmal opening inning began with Mike Yastrzemski mashing his first pitch — an 89.4-mph sinker over the heart of the plate — for a double. Willy Adames then drew one of those walks that Boone said Stroman had to steer clear of.
With two on and nobody out, Jung Hoo Lee cranked a three-run homer to right. Once again, Stroman left an 89.4-mph sinker over the middle.
Two more walks followed. The free passes came back to bite Stroman again, as LaMonte Wade Jr. responded with a two-run double off a mid-zone, 88.4-mph, four-seam fastball.
Stroman proceeded to induce a strikeout and a flyout, but Boone cut the cord after a Tyler Fitzgerald single. With two on, two away and the Yankees less than an inning into their first of 13 straight games, Ryan Yarbrough stopped the bleeding by striking out Yastrzemski.
While the elements appeared to impact Stroman and a few members of the Yankees’ bullpen — which allowed four earned runs — Giants starter Robbie Ray struck out seven and held the Bombers to two hits and one earned run despite walking four batters over four frames. That run came on an Austin Wells double, which bounced off the top of the right field wall in the second inning.
Now three starts into his season, Stroman owns an 11.57 ERA. He entered Friday’s outing with the 21st-worst Stuff+ — a stat that measures the physical characteristics of a pitch — in baseball. However, one hasn’t required advanced metrics to see that Stroman is severely lacking on the mound.
The 33-year-old’s rough start to his second season in pinstripes follows a disastrous second half in 2024, an actionless postseason, a winter of trade rumors and a spring training scrum in which Stroman insisted he would not pitch out of the bullpen. At the time, he was sixth on the Yankees’ rotation depth chart, but injuries to Gerrit Cole, Luis Gil and Clarke Schmidt created multiple openings.
Stroman also has an $18 million option for 2026 that vests if he logs 140 innings this season. It would be surprising to see him reach that threshold under any circumstances, but the Yankees certainly won’t be inclined to keep him in games if he keeps pitching poorly.
That said, Stroman will likely remain in the rotation with Schmidt expected back next week. Carlos Carrasco’s stuff has graded out worse, while Will Warren can be optioned to the minor leagues. Schmidt will likely replace one of them; the Yankees can’t afford to lose starting depth, which could work against the rookie Warren.
No matter who Schmidt replaces, the hope is that he will help stabilize a rotation that has been ineffective outside of Max Fried.
The lefty, the biggest splash of the Yankees’ offseason, has a 1.56 ERA this season. The rest of the starting staff has a 7.23 ERA after Stroman’s clunker.
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