NY Mets pitcher Marcus Stroman is making fans forget about a lost 2020

Back in November of last year, I had written a piece about how New York Mets starting pitcher Marcus Stroman would have a bounce-back campaign in 2021. This after missing the 2020 abbreviated season due to a torn muscle in his calf, as well as for opting out of the season due to Covid-19 concerns. Following up on the previous article, it’s fair to say that Marcus Stroman has done just that as he has been a large part of the Mets’ success to this point in the season.

Not only has Stroman’s on-field performance warranted praise, but his even-keeled day in and day out approach has rubbed off on the entire ballclub. Stroman’s attitude has certainly has helped navigate the Mets through a difficult stretch in which they have missed many of their key contributors on offense, yet they remain firmly in first place in the National League East.

Moving back to Stroman’s on-field performance you can’t help but marvel at the job he has done behind the un-humanlike performances Jacob deGrom puts on the day before his starts. With Stroman’s 2.64 ERA and 1.057 WHIP through his first 12 starts of the season, it’s fair at this point to expect the 30-year old starter to put up up career numbers and possibly cash in big this offseason on the free-agent market.

Marcus Stroman’s performance in 2021 has warranted the attention of Mets fans by establishing himself as one of the best pitchers in the National League.

But less about the future and more about the present. Stroman’s BABIP is currently the second-lowest mark of his career at .263, and the Mets’ much-improved defense behind him has played a large part in Stroman’s success on the mound this season.

Another key factor in Stroman’s success this season has been his ability to get ahead of hitters early on in the count as batters are only hitting a lowly .198 against him when he has gotten ahead of hitters. Batters are also only hitting .216 with RISP against the Stro-Show which has kept scoring opportunities for opposing teams few and far between to this point in the season. That also equates to Stroman only allowing a .190 opposing batting average in high leverage situations over 48 plate appearances.

Coming into this season, I believed a key to Stroman having the bounce-back season I thought he would be capable of included cutting down on his walks. To this point, Stroman is only allowing 1.81 walks per-nine-innings, which is the best mark of his career, and it equates to a walk less per-nine-innings than his mark from 2019 at 2.82.

Lastly, I can’t forget to mention that Stroman has played Gold Glove-caliber defense when fielding his position off of the mound and he should be in the running for another Gold Glove Award to add to his trophy case this upcoming offseason. You couldn’t have predicted a better return to Queens this season for Stroman, as he has opened many Mets fans’ eyes who negligently wrote him off after missing last season.

Want your voice heard? Join the Rising Apple team!

Write for us!

The Mets are a much better team with Stroman on it both in the clubhouse and on the field. Stroman is exactly the type of pitcher whose personality fits the big lights of New York, and in his first full season in Queens, he certainly has made fans forget about a lost 2020 campaign.