Marcus Stroman is the ace of the Chicago Cubs‘ staff.
Signed to a three-year, $71 million contract before the lockout, he is the most prominent name on the pitching staff, or at least the one with the best current level of talent.
He is already missing bats in spring training with his split-change, a pitch he developed and perfected before the 2021 season.
Marcus Stroman nastiness… 😷 pic.twitter.com/rVGLX88Ywe
— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) March 23, 2022
As Codify says, that pitch is, indeed, nasty: it tumbles right before reaching the plate, with quite a bit arm side break.
It’s very difficult to hit or square, and can be extremely frustrating for a hitter, especially when coupled with a sinker and a slider like Stroman does.
Stroman Will Be The Leader Of The Cubs’ Pitching Staff
With it, he was able to dominate hitters to the tune of a 3.02 ERA in 179 innings.
He showed last year that he can still get his grounders (50.8 percent) while still missing some bats (21.6 strikeout percentage).
He is also an experienced MLB player who will help the Cubs’ young pitchers, like Adbert Alzolay.
All in all, bringing in Stroman was a sound decision by the Cubs, as they try to return to relevancy after selling most of their assets last season.
They failed in their quest to bring in a prominent shortstop, but they did sign stellar Japanese outfielder Seiya Suzuki, pitcher Wade Miley, catcher Yan Gomes, and several useful relievers besides Stroman.
They have an uphill battle for a playoffs spot, but they look much better now than during 2021’s second half.
Stroman, for the most part, will be tasked to lead a staff that also includes Miley, Drew Smyly, Kyle Hendricks, Alec Mills, and Alzolay.
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