Mets: Marcus Stroman can quickly become a fan-favorite in Flushing

Marcus Stroman is coming back home and has a chance to become a quick fan-favorite as a member of the New York Mets.

Let us, for a moment, throw out our opinions on the deal that brought Marcus Stroman to the New York Mets. If you’re upsetting about the prospects they surrendered or the questionable decision to even buy at this year’s trade deadline, you’re not alone. There’s plenty of time to complain about that later.

Instead of trying to figure out how many Cy Young Awards Anthony Kay will win in Toronto or calculate what year Simeon Woods Richardson makes the Hall of Fame, let’s show a little appreciation for Stroman. The “Figure It Out” alumni is someone all Mets fans can definitely rally around.

At 5’7 and a quarter, he’s a smaller pitcher than most. In fact, only six men including him have reached the big leagues below 5’10 as starting pitchers this century. You wouldn’t know it from his presence on the mound. Since debuting with the Toronto Blue Jays back in 2014, he has been one of the team’s best starting pitchers. Even this year, with just a 6-11 record, he pitched to a 2.96 ERA for the Blue Jays prior to this trade.

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Scroll through Stroman’s Twitter feed long enough and you’ll find plenty of gems. He has an upbeat and likable attitude. He also has an adorable photo of him as a youngster in Mets gear he was more than happy to show off Sunday night.

As a member of the Blue Jays for his whole big league career, Mets fans didn’t get to see him all that much. We can look at the numbers and see where he does and does not fit into the equation.

A major concern is how he will perform with the Mets as a groundball pitcher. Minus a top-level infield to help back him up in his quest for outs, Stroman has his work cut out for him.

Stroman arrives to the Mets the same way as Noah Syndergaard did. As a high school rival of Steven Matz, there’s also another moment from the past linking him to the players on this ball club. He’s a hometown kid from Medford who could absolutely fit right in.

On a team with some silent leaders, Stroman is a guy I also hope becomes a more outspoken in over the next year and hopefully even beyond. He was “the man” up in Toronto and will now go to a ballpark owned by Jacob deGrom.

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There’s plenty of room for Stroman in Queens. I’m hoping Stroman is part of whatever plan they have in store.