The New York Yankees have announced they have put pitcher Marcus Stroman on the 15-day injured list allowing for left knee inflammation. To be clear, the change posted just one hour before Saturday’s game with the San Francisco Giants. This moment presents a difficult predicament for the team as they continue to address player health and performance matters.
Stroman, one of the Yankees’ mainstays in their rotation, had been dealing with knee pain. He brought this weakness directly to the attention of Manager Aaron Boone. Following a difficult outing on Friday, where he allowed five runs and managed only two outs during a rainy 9-1 defeat, the team decided to take precautionary measures. On top of that, Stroman hasn’t pitched well this season and hasn’t made it out of the fifth inning in any start. Consequently, the Yankees find themselves with a much more straightforward decision regarding their starting rotation.
“The hope is it’s not something too serious and that we can attack this and hopefully be a little bit of a source of maybe not having him as sharp as he needs to be.” – Aaron Boone
Stroman will turn 34 on May 1. He is in the second year of a two-year, $37 million contract that is the richest in the state’s history. Despite that success, his performance has been concerning this season, as indicated by a 2.04 WHIP that should make anyone sweat. Last year, he went 10-9 with a 4.31 ERA in 30 games (29 starts). He pitched a career-high 154 2/3 innings last season. That was his highest total since 2021, while he was with the New York Mets.
The plus side to this terrible injury is that it may make the Yankees’ rotation decisions much easier. Allan Winans has been selected from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes Barre to join the Yankees, taking Stroman’s place on the roster. He made his major league debut with the Atlanta Braves in 2023. Unfortunately, he has floundered ever since, going 1-4 with a 7.20 ERA in two years with the Athletics.
Following his final outing, Stroman did go to the hospital for immediate surgery tests on his inflamed left knee. At the time, he’d thrown just 46 pitches in sweltering weather. All the Yankees can do is hope that this injury isn’t a serious one and that it ends up improving Stroman’s long-term performance.
“So hopefully we can attack this and have it be something that we can benefit from and get him physically where he needs to be.” – Aaron Boone
Boone remains confident in Stroman’s experience and proven resilience, even as the latest experience takes its toll.
“Stro has also been doing this a long time and pitched in these situations a lot before, so I’m sure that all plays a role.” – Aaron Boone
Leave a Reply