CLEARWATER, Fla. — Before signing Marcus Stroman in January, the Yankees turned to knowledgeable in-house resources for insight.
Luis Rojas gave Brian Cashman and Aaron Boone positive reviews of Stroman from the season and a half they spent together with the Mets, first as a quality control coach in 2019 and then as manager in 2021. Gave.
Rojas, now the Yankees’ third base coach, praised Stroman’s energy, talent and experience.
“I love Sutro,” Rojas said Sunday.
Rojas also witnessed firsthand how in tune with his body and mechanics, “a big feel guy,” Rojas said, right-hander Stroman made his debut in the Grapefruit League. That was evident on Sunday.
Stroman increased his pitch count to 52 pitches in 2¹/₃ innings while trying to adjust his mechanics against the Phillies at Baycare Ballpark.
He estimates that it took about 25 to 30 pitches to get the right feel, and on the ones that felt slightly off, he immediately sent them to his mechanic while waiting for the ball to be returned to him by catcher Austin Wells. They were often seen performing certain actions.
“I think I’m in a good spot,” Stroman said after giving up two runs on four singles and giving up one walk while striking out two. “I don’t think I’m where I need to be, so it’s going to be another four or five weeks. But as far as throwing strikes and being able to control the zone with a few pitches, I feel like I’m ahead of schedule in that sense. I feel it. But we’re definitely out of sync, so we have to mechanically go into the season. Over the next two, three, four outings, you’ll see everything fall into place.”
Stroman was sharp in the first inning, getting three flyouts (unusual for a grounder machine), but lost some of his control in the second inning.
Taking advantage of Spring Training’s re-entry rules, Rojas (acting manager for divisional games) took Stroman down as his pitch count increased and sent him back to the third inning to finish the job.
“I think he got what he needed,” Rojas said. “After he came out, he was hanging out in the dugout and talking to different people, resources, pitching coaches and people he’s worked with since he’s been here. He wanted to get that feel. Sometimes he finishes a pitch and it’s probably not where he wants it to be. You can see him trying to find that touch, whether it’s his hips or his release point. , [etc]”
Most importantly, Stroman is off to a healthy start after battling hip and rib injuries late last season.
The Long Island native is scheduled to start about five more games this spring, building up his workload (he said Sunday he already feels ahead of schedule in that regard) and working as a mechanic. This will give you enough time to fine-tune it.
“Pitching is all about feel,” Stroman said. “To be able to get to the point where I can reproduce my timing, my feel, my delivery almost 100 times a game. That’s pretty difficult. There could be different things going on at the same time. Everything just got done.”
Rojas knows from experience how important that is to Strowman.
“This guy is really smart,” Rojas said. “He always works hard, just to get in shape. His main goal is to start more than 30 games in a season and play for the team all year round. Statistically. , I don’t remember him telling me to do this or that. But to start 30 games for the team, that’s his main goal. I take great pride in being in control.”
