Getty Yankees pitcher Marcus Stroman
For Yankees starting pitcher Marcus Stroman, emotion has always been part of his performance throughout his MLB career. Usually, the issue is a bit of excessive celebration, but on occasion, he gets irritated—and does not hide it.
Friday night saw one of those moments of irritation, when Stroman was visibly angry over the Yankees’ failure to turn a double play with the bases loaded in the fifth inning. With the score at 1-1 with one out, Stroman got the result he wanted, a grounder to short. Anthony Volpe took the bouncer and flipped to Gleyber Torres at second for the out, but a weak throw from Torres failed to get the double play.
Stroman was jawing into the ether on the mound after, and walked the next batter (Justin Turner) on four pitches. He was removed from the game after that, and was shown continuing to yell in the dugout after that. And it was clear who was the target of his anger: Torres, who has struggled for most of the season.
In the end, tensions cooled and the Yankees went on to a 16-5 blowout. But not before Stroman’s blowup.
Another run scores and the Yanks don’t turn the double play and Stroman is pissed
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Here’s how Stroman addressed the play after the game in the Yankees locker room, via SNY.com:
“This game can definitely have a lot of raw emotion come out,” Stroman said. “I’m very passionate. I care about winning for this team and this city. And sometimes my raw emotion comes out. I checked in with everybody I needed to check in with after the game. Like I said, it’s all directed toward winning and being great out there. Sometimes it’s frustrating.”
He was asked about the double play, and he got honest in his response.
“It was frustrating,” Stroman said. “At the end of the day, I felt like I made a good pitch and that was a big spot, I wanted it turned there and we didn’t. Some raw emotion comes out.”
There was also little doubt about the fact that Torres was the target of Stroman’s anger. It has been a rough week for Torres, who was benched by manager Aaron Boone after he struggled at the plate, in the field and on the basepaths, failing to run out a ground ball in Tuesday’s loss to the Mets.
But Torres redeemed himself at the plate, going 2-for-4 with a home run, his first multi-hit game since May 26.
Marcus Stroman Known for Strong Emotions
Torres said he and Stroman cleared the air soon after the fifth inning.
“That type of situation when you try to help your team and pitch well, emotions come out,” Torres said. “I don’t have any issues with that. I know how hard the game is, so it’s part of the game.”
Stroman has always been emotional, of course. He tries to channel his focus into living in the moment, though, and said the best advice he ever got—from his dad—was to develop a thick skin and walk into every room like he’s the Man.
“I took that to heart every single day after that,” Stroman told the Chicago Tribune. “I’m African American-Puerto Rican, I’m fully tatted, I have a Duke degree — I understand the perception of how people look at me and judge me before I even open my mouth. I understand society. I understand how I’m going to be viewed.
“I realize if I say the sky is blue, someone’s going to have a problem with it, so I’m at the point where I don’t care. I’m truly happy, my family’s healthy. I’m doing everything that I’ve imagined in my life so that’s always my priority.”