Marcus Stroman has made 11 career starts at Yankee Stadium, including a few good games and a few lackluster ones, thanks in large part to Aaron Judge. be.
But aside from Stroman now calling Judge a teammate, he believes the Yankees' new right-hander has the tools to succeed in the Bronx with his backbone sinker and strong infield defense. There's a reason.
Stroman, who agreed to a two-year, $37 million contract Thursday night, has been one of the better pitchers in the game in recent years, with his 3.38 ERA since 2019 good for 15th over that span. .
But the athletic, 5-foot-7 veteran did it in a different way than other members of the Yankees' current rotation. He’s a ground ball machine.
At their best, Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodon rely on the overwhelming power of their four-seam fastballs to rack up strikeouts.
Nestor Cortez doesn't throw very hard, but he relies on a four-seam fastball and, like Rodon and to some extent Cole, is a fly ball pitcher.
Clark Schmidt, in his first full season as a starter, had a fly ball and ground ball success rate about the league average.
Strawman?
In terms of life on the ground, he's not as good as Clay Holmes, but he's not far off.
His ground ball percentage of 57.4 percent last season ranked in the 94th percentile, according to Baseball Savant. (For the record, Holmes was in the 100th percentile at 66.7%.)
This is in stark contrast to the rest of the Yankees' rotation.
Schmidt was in the 56th percentile with a ground ball rate of 43.6 percent. Cole placed him in the 37th percentile at 40.3. Rodon was in the second percentile with a score of 27.5. Cortez was in his first percentile with his 26.1.
Now that Stroman calls Yankee Stadium home, it doesn't hurt that he's a pitcher who focuses on putting the ball on the ground and getting it up in the air with a short porch looming in right field.
Stroman's lifetime fly ball rate of 15.8 percent is well below the league average of 23.5 percent, and his 0.83 home runs per nine innings since entering the league in 2014 is among pitchers with at least 1,000 innings pitched during that span. It is the fourth lowest number (after that). Jacob deGrom, Gio Gonzalez, Zack Wheeler).
Stroman has allowed eight home runs in 11 career starts at Yankee Stadium, which is one reason for his 6.06 ERA in the Bronx, but Judge is responsible for three of those hits. Stroman won't have to worry about playing against him anymore, other than some live batting practice in Tampa this spring.
But most of the time, when Stroman takes the mound, the Yankees' infield defense will be put to the test.
They were one of the best units in the game last season, led by Gold Glove Award-winning shortstop Anthony Volpe, whose 15 defensive saves ranked third in the majors (Cubs' Stroman shortstop Dansby Swanson led the way with 18 innings).
The Yankees are in the top seven at every DRS infield position except second base, and Oswaldo Peraza could replace Gleyber Torres if Stroman is pitching.
The Yankees' infield positioning will also favor Stroman.
According to “Fielding Bible'', he was tied for 4th place in 2023 as a DRS due to his infield shift.
While Stroman's pitch composition may not be exactly the same as the rest of the rotation (last season he threw a sinker 46.4 percent of the time, a slave 22.9 percent of the time, and a cutter 9.5 percent of the time), The Yankees have had success with sinker and slider pitchers in recent years. .
That applies primarily to relief pitchers, but it also applies to Michael King, who has been turned starter, and Stroman will be given his place in the rotation.
