Marcus Stroman

At 33 years old, Marcus Stroman has this physical status:

Marcus Earl Stroman (born May 1, 1991) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball (MLB).

He played for the Toronto Blue Jays previously.

Stroman is 5 feet 7 inches (1.70 m), making him one of only six pitchers under the age of 5 years (1.78 m) to get off the baseball field in the 21st century.

In 2014, he made his MLB debut with the Blue Jays.

In 2017, he was named the World Baseball Classic MVP.

He received a 2017 Rawlings Gold Glove Award after the regular season.

Stroman was traded to the Mets by the Blue Jays in 2019.

Personal life

Stroman was born in Medford, New York, to Earl Stroman and Adlin Auffant, who separated when he was in 5th grade. His mother is Puerto Rican, making him eligible to represent Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic. His father is a Suffolk County, New York police detective. Stroman has a brother, Jayden, and a sister, Sabria. Erskine Kelley, his cousin, played minor league baseball with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago Cubs teams.

Stroman has several tattoos, including a large tribute to his grandmother, Gloria Major, who would regularly attend his high school games and died when he was at Duke University. "Height does't measure heart" and "breaking stereotypes," include tattoos, portraits of his parents, the Gold Glove Award, a portrait of Maria Murphy's character from Training Day, the date of his MLB debut, his father's birthday, the flag of Puerto Rico, his mother's eye, and "believe in YOUrself," "god save me," "bedside," "young," "dad," "god save me," "grandfather" with the number "hehe

Stroman, a six-year-old boy from 1997, appeared on Nickelodeon's game show Figure It Out.

Stroman completed the trademarking process for "Height Doesn't Measure Heart" and "HDMH" on January 9, 2015. Since mid-2015, he has produced caps with New Era that feature his trademarks. He has also collaborated with Nike, Jordan Brand, BioSteel, and Rogers to produce clothing displaying the HDMH symbol. Stroman claimed in December 2016 that he measured precisely 5 foot 7.25 inches (1.7082 m) for a physical examination for Nike.

Stroman appeared on the remix of rapper Mike Stud's 2016 album These Days' title track. Stroman, his colleague at Duke, has also appeared in concert with Stud.

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Professional career

Stroman was drafted by the Jays 22nd overall as the most major league ready player available in the 2012 MLB draft, and became the first Duke player to be selected in the first round. Stroman was promoted to the Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats by the Blue Jays after beginning his professional career with the Low-A Vancouver Canucks. Stroman was banned from playing for 50 games on August 28, 2012, after testing positive for methylhexanamine, a banned stimulant.

Stroman started and pitched five scoreless innings to win in the Fisher Cats' May 19, 2013 game. He had finished his suspension. Stroman defeated the New Britain Rock Cats 3–1 on July 2, 2013, knocking out 13 batters over 623 runs in a 3–1 loss. On July 26, 2013, when the new Top 100 Prospects list was unveiled, he was ranked as the top prospect in the Blue Jays organization.

Stroman attended the 2014 major league spring training camp and was assigned to the minor league camp on March 19. He was the starting pitcher for the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons on Opening Day.

After Brandon Morrow was moved to the 60-day injured list, Stroman was called up to the Blue Jays on May 3, 2014. At the time of his call-up, he was regarded as the organization's top-two prospect. Drew Hutchison's relief was enough to win in his first MLB victory on May 6. Stroman was recalled back to Triple-A Buffalo on May 18 and made his first Major League debut the following day. He pitched six innings and surrendered only one earned run on five hits, striking out six out of six hits and giving no walks to win the Kansas City Royals. Stroman pitched nine innings for the first time in his career, but the Blue Jays lost by 3–2 in extra innings. On September 8, he played his first complete game and shut down, defeating the Chicago Cubs 8–0. Stroman produced only three hits, and at one point had retired 19 consecutive batters.

During a game against the Baltimore Orioles on September 17, Stroman was banned six games and fined an undisclosed amount for deliberately throwing at Caleb Joseph. He appealed the suspension straight away following the announcement. Stroman's appeal was dismissed on September 21, and MLB limited his suspension to five games. Following his return from the suspension, it was announced soon thereafter that he would be moved to the bullpen for the remainder of the season. Stroman pitched four innings in relief of Drew Hutchison's final start of the season on September 26, his first career save. He did not appear in the final two games of the Blue Jays season, but he finished 2014 with an 11–6 record, 3.65 ERA, 111 strikeouts, and a 1.17 WHIP in 13023 innings pitched.

Stroman revealed on October 6, 2014, on his Twitter account, that he would change his uniform number from 54 to 6 in honor of his grandmother. Stroman suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament injury in his left knee during spring training. He underwent a fruitful surgery to repair his ACL, which was performed by Dr. James Andrews. On April 5, Stroman was added to the 60-day disabled list. Stroman stayed at Duke University to complete his degree in Sociology with a minor in Markets and Management Studies while recovering from the injury.

Stroman will begin a rehabilitation assignment later this month, according to a tweet on August 5. For the first time since his injury on August 11, he threw off a mound for the first time after getting medical clearance the day before. Stroman will be stretched out as a starter in his recovery, according to General Manager Alex Anthopoulos. On August 24, Stroman hosted a 40-pitch simulation game as well as a 51-pitch game on August 28. He made his Lansing Lugnuts debut on September 2 and pitched 42 runs, yielding no hits while walking one and striking out seven out seven. With the Buffalo Bisons, he got his second and final recovery off on September 7. Stroman will return as a starting pitcher and make his 2015 debut against the New York Yankees on September 8, according to manager John Gibbons on September 8. On September 11, he was activated from the 60-day disabled list and began his second game of a doubleheader the next day. Stroman pitched five innings and won the game after giving up three runs before being forced to cancel due to a rain delay. He got off to a good start in 2013 and ended the regular season with a 4–0 record, 1.67 ERA, and 18 strikeouts in 27 innings pitched.

Stroman appeared in Game 2 of the 2015 American League Division Series against the Texas Rangers for his first career postseason appearance. At one point, he gave up three earned runs and struck out five runs before striking out five out of five. In the loss, he pitched seven innings and was given a no-decision. In a convincing 6–3 Blue Jays victory, he started again in Game 5 of the same series, with six runs and two earned runs over six innings.

Stroman was named as the Blue Jays' Opening Day starter on March 23, 2016. He pitched into the ninth inning, holding the Tampa Bay Rays to three runs on six hits and losing by 5–3. Stroman scored a new career-high in strikeouts with nine strikes against the Rays on May 1, 5–1. He also set a new franchise record for strikeouts on a pitcher's birthday, defeating David Price, Marc Rzepczynski, and Roy Halladay, who all had 8 strikeouts in starts on their birthdays. Stroman put out 13 Houston Astros batters in a no-decision on August 1, putting him on his single-game strikeout record. He finished the 2016 regular season with a 9-10 record, 4.37 ERA, and 166 strikeouts in a career-high 204 innings pitched. He had the highest ground ball percentage among major league pitchers (60.1%) and the lowest fly ball percentage (20.4%).

Stroman will begin the Wild Card game against the Baltimore Orioles on October 3. The Blue Jays won the game 5–2 in extra innings and advanced to the Texas Rangers for the full six innings, giving up just two earned runs and striking out six. Stroman was supposed to begin his ALDS match against the Rangers, but the Blue Jays beat Texas and advanced to face the Cleveland Indians in the American League Championship Series. In Game 3 of the ALCS, Stroman pitched 513 runs and yielded four earned runs, his first game of the season.

Stroman had won his arbitration case and would make his $3.4 million salary for the 2017 season, according to the official on February 14, 2017. Stroman scored his first hit of his career in 6–5 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on April 25, his first hit of his career. His double to left field was the first single pinch struck by an American League pitcher since Gary Peters in 1971. In the Blue Jays' 9-0 victory over the Atlanta Braves on May 18, 2017, Stroman hit Julio Teherán on the opposite field home run. Stroman became the second Blue Jays pitcher to reach a home run in doing so, joining Mark Hendrickson, who did so on June 21, 2003. Stroman's home run was the first to reach back-to-back home runs since 1970, following Luke Maile's solo shot. He was also the first pitcher to reach a home run in the majors since the Baltimore Orioles' Tom Phoebus in 1968. Stroman left a game against the New York Yankees after five innings when a blister appeared on his right middle finger, but the injury did not cause him to miss a single innings. In Toronto's 7–2 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on September 2, Stroman was struck on the right elbow by a line drive, forcing him to leave the game, but he was soon to resume.

Stroman ended the 2017 season with 13 victories, 164 strikeouts, and a 3.09 ERA in 201 innings. He became the seventh Blue Jays pitcher to have consecutive 200-inning seasons by the 200-inning mark. He had the highest ground ball percentage among major league pitchers (62.1%) and his lowest fly ball percentage (19.7%). He had his longest home run of all major league pitchers in 2017, clocking in at 496 feet.

Stroman, Alex Cobb, and Chris Sale were among the finalists for the American League pitcher's Gold Glove Award on October 28. Stroman received the award on November 7. Stroman was named the Year of the Year by the Toronto chapter of the Baseball Writers' Association of America for 2017.

Stroman revealed on February 15, 2018, he had lost his arbitration case and would make $6.5 million for the season rather than his requested salary of $6.9 million. Stroman struggled to get off to a good start in the 2018 season, going 0–5 with a 7.71 ERA before being placed on the 10-day disabled list due to right shoulder exhaustion on May 11. He played four innings on his first day with the Dunedin Blue Jays on June 13, getting two runs on one hit while walking four innings and striking out three runs. Stroman returned to Toronto's rotation on June 23, pitching five shutout innings against the Los Angeles Angels. Stroman was forced to leave the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees in August 7 and 17, respectively due to blisters in his pitching hand. He will return against the Tampa Bay Rays on September 3rd, but blisters have forced him out of the game. Stroman will not return in 2018 after a rough start to his 2018 season with a 4–9 record and a 5.54 ERA in 19 starts. Stroman was named as the Opening Day starter by Blue Jays boss Charlie Montoyo on March 13, 2019. Stroman was nominated to the 2019 MLB All-Star Game on June 30, his first all-star nomination of his career.

Stroman was sold by the Toronto Blue Jays, as well as cash considerations, to the New York Mets for pitching prospects Anthony Kay and Simeon Woods Richardson on July 28, 2019. Stroman was 4–2 with a 3.77 ERA and 60 strikeouts in 11 starts with the Mets in 2019. Between the Blue Jays & Mets, he went 10-13 for a 3.22 average.

Stroman revealed on November 15, 2019 via Twitter, that he would be downgrading to #0 for the 2020 season, as well as @STR0. He said he wanted to give up No. 3 earlier in the offseason. Jose Reyes was named 7 on the honor of the late Jose Reyes. Nikki Huffman as his personal trainer during the offseason, after she was hired as head trainer for the Toronto Blue Jays. He first met her at Duke University in 2015, where she assisted him in recovering from a torn ACL ahead of schedule. Stroman was forced to begin the 2020 season with a torn left calf muscle. On August 10, 2020, the season's first appearance, he announced that he would miss it.

The Mets extended a qualifying offer to Stroman worth $18.9 million for the 2021 season. Stroman accepted the qualifying offer on November 11.

Stroman led the Mets' starting rotation in 2021 with 10 victories, 158 strikeouts, and 179 innings pitched.

Stroman signed a three-year deal worth $71 million to play for the Chicago Cubs on December 1, 2021. He is the first Cub to wear the number 0.

Stroman took part in a series of tweets with well-known MLB collector and YouTube celebrity Zack Hample on August 26, 2022. Stroman responded, "It's totally funny how much of a loser you are." Grown [expletive] man was taking baseballs away from the youth and making videos describing security doing their jobs. You're the definition of a clown. "Lol" is a word that comes to mind.

International career

Stroman declared in December 2016 that he would compete for the United States national baseball team in the 2017 World Baseball Classic. He made three starts for the team and finished with a 2.35 ERA in 1513 innings. Stroman led Team Puerto Rico to an 8–0 win and their first WBC championship, with Team Puerto Rico scoreless and without a single paddle in the final game. Stroman was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player (MVP) following the tournament. He was also selected to the All-World Baseball Classic team. At the 2023 World Baseball Classic, he will represent Puerto Rico.

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