Marcus Stroman sneaky CY Young Contender
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As the Cubs fly their way to a date in London with the St. Louis Cardinals, one player wears the grey, red and blue proudly on his jersey. So much so, that during a fan rally featuring chairman Tom Ricketts. Fans began chanting “Stroman, Stroman” as Meghan Montemurro tweeted.
Marcus Stroman has sneakily climbed into Cy Young contention, not quietly, but dominantly. The former Blue Jay and New York Met inked a three-year, 71-million-dollar deal with the Cubs on December 1st, 2021.
In his first year, he posted a 3.50 ERA with a losing record of 6-7 with 54 earned runs, 119 strikeouts, and 36 walks.
Yet once the calendar flipped into a new season, the arm of 32 found new life once again. In his first four starts, he had an ERA of 0.75 with three wins and a loss with 25 strikeouts to 10 walks.
However, even the best find themselves on the wrong side of the deal. Over his next five starts, he gave up 16 runs leading to a 5.54 ERA with an 0-3 record over that time culminating in a start where he gave up six runs in 2 2/3 innings.
“Just one of those where I kind of know where I’ve got to get to mechanically and I was just struggling to get there in the game... hopefully work these next four, five days and be better on Saturday against Philly.”
His next start against Philadelphia did draw better results, going six innings, with only one earned run, but the loss against the Twins seemed to motivate him into the stratosphere, as he went on to pitch eight innings against his former Mets in a 4-2 victory, yet he wasn’t done there.
His next start proved to be the best of his career. On the mound in Wrigley, he made the Tampa Bay Rays look foolish for nine innings, taking a no-hitter into the seventh inning before a bloop single by Wander Franco to left field broke it up. Yet, his dominance continued, finishing the shutout with a groundout of Franco, leading to the four complete game of his career, and his first shutout since his rookie year in 2014.
Since that start against the Twins, he has been 7-0 with seven earned runs and 36 strikeouts.
As of June 20th, his line is now 9-4 with 16 games pitched and a 2.28 ERA, all best in the National League. Now he looks to take his resurgence across the pond as the Cardinals and Cubs face off in a two-game set over the weekend. However, the last time MLB teams played in London, it was a slugfest between the Red Sox and Yankees, will these two games follow suit, we shall see.
