New York Yankees right-hander Marcus Stroman rejected the notion of pitching out of the bullpen this season after reporting to camp on Friday in Tampa, Florida.
Stroman is not projected to make the Yankees’ starting rotation — and he does not agree.
“I’m a starter,” Stroman said repeatedly. “I won’t pitch in the bullpen. I’m a starter. I’m a starter.”
Photo: Nathan Ray Seebeck / Imagn Images
Stroman opted against participating in workouts over the previous two days after undergoing his physical on Tuesday.
“At this stage in my career, I put a priority on getting my body ready. I don’t think there was a need for me to be here the last few days, given the climate,” he said.
Stroman also addressed the potential of being traded away from New York.
“I’m so grounded at this point. Nothing can really faze me,” he said of the trade rumors. “I know who I am as a pitcher. I can compete at any level with any team. If I’m here, if I’m not here, my body is ready to roll. I’m ready to go out there and give 30-plus starts.”
With Stroman in mind, Yankees manager Aaron Boone was asked by reporters about the possibility of using a six-man rotation this season.
“Never say never. I mean, I don’t necessarily see us doing that, but we’ll see where we’re at,” Boone said.
Yankees general manager Brian Cashman had no qualms with Stroman’s comments.
“That’s vintage Stro. He’s a competitor. And I agree with him, he is a starter,” Cashman said. “Let’s just see how everything plays out.”
Stroman, 34 in May, signed with the Yankees ahead of last year’s campaign and made 29 starts among his 30 appearances in the regular season. He went 10-9 with a 4.31 ERA, recording 113 strikeouts and 60 walks across 154 2/3 innings.
New York did not call on Stroman to pitch in the playoffs, when the Yankees advanced to the World Series before losing to the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games.
Since then, the Yankees signed free agent left-hander Max Fried, and their starting rotation for this year appears to feature Gerrit Cole and Fried at the top, followed by Carlos Rodon, Clarke Schmidt and Luis Gil, last year’s American League Rookie of the Year. The Yankees also traded Nestor Cortes to Milwaukee this offseason to acquire closer Devin Williams.
Stroman has a career record of 87-85 with two saves, two shutouts, a 3.72 ERA and 1,204 strikeouts in 261 appearances (252 starts) for the Toronto Blue Jays (2014 to 2019), New York Mets (2019, 2021), Chicago Cubs (2022 to 2023) and Yankees.
Shaquille O’Neal is staying with TNT Sports on a new contract worth more than US$15 million per year, Front Office Sports reported on Friday. The news means the cast of Inside the NBA is staying together even as TNT is set to license out the show to ESPN starting next season. TNT was the odd network out in the NBA’s recent TV rights negotiations, as NBC and Amazon joined previous rightsholder ESPN in inking deals for basketball games. That left TNT without a need for pregame and postgame NBA shows. In a trade with ESPN, TNT is licensing Inside the NBA to the
Juventus on Sunday stopped Inter from replacing SSC Napoli at the top of Serie A by beating their fierce rivals 1-0 and moving into the UEFA Champions League positions. Francisco Conceicao made sure that Napoli would stay two points ahead of reigning champions Inter by classily tucking home the winning goal 16 minutes before the end of an entertaining contest in Turin. Portugal attacker Conceicao netted his fourth goal of the season in all competitions after brilliant work from Randal Kolo Muani to give Juve a third straight league win. Juve are in fourth place on 46 points, ahead on goal-difference from SS
Eugenie Bouchard already has her own signature pickleball paddle. She is No. 17 in the pickleball rankings and constantly appears on the main court at events because she is always a big draw. However, just to be absolutely clear, she is not retired from tennis. The 2014 Wimbledon finalist still practices on the tennis court, still competes at tennis events and still has a Women’s Tennis Association ranking (No. 1,288). The Canadian standout just has a new sport that has caught her attention. Bouchard is one of several familiar tennis names — like Jack Sock and Donald Young — crossing over to
Stephen Curry and Jayson Tatum on Sunday combined for 27 points as Shaquille O’Neal’s “Team Shaq” cruised to victory in the new-look NBA All-Star game in San Francisco. Curry, playing on his home court at Golden State’s Chase Center, reeled off a string of trademark three-pointers to help his star-studded lineup coast to a 41-25 victory over Charles Barkley’s “Team Chuck.” Boston Celtics star Tatum finished with 15 points after delivering a dominant performance in a starting lineup that also included Kevin Durant, Damian Lillard and James Harden. Team Shaq’s preparations for the game had been dealt a blow shortly before tip-off when
RSS