Marcus Stroman is slowly emerging as one of the best starting pitchers in baseball. Unfortunately, Stroman is earning a reputation as a player that shows too much emotion on the field. Why that’s a thing, I do not understand. Yesterday, Stroman shut down the Red Sox and made them look silly all afternoon pitching 6 scoreless innings. He even showed his emotion on the field too which seemed to bother some people.
Now as a Red Sox fan, I’ve been accused of being biased. This couldn’t be more false. What I’m more interested in is telling the truth. Marcus Stroman is great for baseball. Plus if we’re being honest, it would be awfully hypercritical of me to not like a Duke guy. Marcus Stroman is great for the sport and any team would be lucky to have him.
During the NESN TV broadcast, Dennis Eckersley attacked Stroman for showing emotion. Normally, I like Eck. This time, he was wrong.
I hate hypocrites. The fact that anybody gets mad over celebrating is ridiculous. This only happens in baseball too. I don’t know why that is the case either. Maybe it’s because these guys are stuck in rural towns throughout the minors are really only interact with other baseball players. I don’t know what it is. All I know is emotion creates fan interest and baseball needs a hell of a lot more of it.
Stroman, 28, is in the prime of his career and a prime trade candidate for a struggling Jays team. Stroman sports a 3.04 ERA in over 100 innings pitched on the season. Stroman is the kind of pitcher that could swing a playoff series. He’s also not afraid to get fired up and never seems like he stresses about high leverage spots. He thrives in it.
Stroman has shown he is capable of being an Ace. Marcus Stroman isn’t just awesome at baseball, he’s good for the sport too. That’s coming from a Red Sox fan. We need more emotion on the field, not less.
