A day after Aaron Boone announced that the struggling Marcus Stroman had his next start pushed to Sunday, the right-hander said that he “figured some things out” while working in the bullpen.
“It’s hard to put into words how many different things kind of go into it, but yeah, I think I figured it out,” Stroman said Thursday. “I think I made the adjustments I needed to make.”
Stroman added there was a “back-and-forth” discussion over pushing him back. He was originally supposed to start on Thursday.
On Wednesday, Boone said he “felt like there would be some benefit in Stro having a couple of bullpens to work through some things.”
A first-year Yankee, Stroman has been brutal since June began, recording a 6.32 ERA over 10 starts. While not every one of those outings has been terrible, Stroman is currently positioned as the odd man out of the Yankees’ rotation with Clarke Schmidt possibly returning before the end of the month.
“I guess it’s been pretty frustrating, but I’m also a realist and I put my season as a whole,” said Stroman, who had a 2.60 ERA in 12 starts before June. “I can see how good I’ve been in certain spurts. So I know it hasn’t been 10 starts in a row where I’ve been off. It’s been a few. So I’m not too worried.”
Stroman has not completed four innings in two straight starts, a span that’s seen him surrender 10 earned runs and 17 hits over six frames.
Stroman has also seen his velocity drop significantly. His four-seam fastball averaged 92 mph last season. This year, that number is just 89.8 after he averaged 88.8 mph while allowing seven earned runs in his last start against Toronto.
However, Stroman reiterated that he’s not worried about his velo on Thursday. Boone has echoed similar sentiments.
“If I’m making my pitches, I’ve never been concerned about velocity,” Stroman said. “It’s more of location for me and action in the zone, so those are things I’m looking for.”
DJ SET TO PLAY
Thursday started a stretch that will see the Yankees face three lefties in their next four games. With that in mind, DJ LeMahieu found himself batting eighth and playing first against the Halos and Tyler Anderson.
Boone said LeMahieu will “definitely play quite a bit through this stretch” against southpaws.
A two-time batting champ, LeMahieu has spent most of the year looking washed after a broken foot delayed the start of his season. However, he had a grand slam and six RBI against the Phillies on July 31, and he added two RBI on August 4 before going 2-for-4 with a double on Wednesday night.
With LeMahieu now filling a reserve role, the Yankees are hoping his recent success can be something to build on.
“It’s been encouraging to see what he’s done here over this last week, 10 days,” Boone said.
