It seems like we might need to rethink Marcus Stroman’s performance once again.
The veteran pitcher is set to face the Rays in the Bronx on Thursday, hoping to turn around what has been a tough 2025 season.
Stroman has been on the sidelines for two and a half months due to knee inflammation, and in the eight games he has pitched, he’s logged a 6.09 ERA. Things haven’t gone well on the mound for him.
This season, he’s giving up hard hits at a staggering 49.1% rate, and the average exit velocity against him is 91.7 mph. To put that in context, those numbers place him in the bottom 4% of the league.
If the season were to end today, it wouldn’t be good news—he’s allowing 1.59 home runs per nine innings, with six homers given up over just 34 innings pitched.
Moreover, Stroman’s hits allowed per nine innings are quite alarming at 10.06. That’s, well, pretty significant.
When he faces the Rays, he’s up against one of the statistically better hitting teams—they’re averaging .255, which is actually third best in baseball right now.
While not a lot of players have faced Stroman often, some have fared surprisingly well; Josh Lowe, Taylor Walls, and Nick Fortes have combined for 27 hits, with an impressive .407 batting average against him, including four extra-base hits.
In two past starts against Tampa Bay last season, Stroman allowed three earned runs, which might seem manageable, but the Rays still racked up a total of 12 hits in just nine innings of work against him.
I find it hard to believe that Stroman can deceive the Tampa hitters this time around.
So, here’s my play: I’d put my money on Marcus Stroman for over hits allowed.
