Yankees right-handed Marcus Stroman He has never shied away from showing how he feels and Friday was no different.
With the veteran struggling to get past the fifth inning – having allowed the Blue Jays to load the bases with no outs – he managed Vladimir Guerroro Jr. hitting a ground ball to the shortstop that could have been a much-needed double play.
Instead, Guerrero won the throw to first by Gleyber Torres. Shortly after the safe call, Stroman was shown on the broadcast yelling into his glove. It appeared that Stroman was upset that Torres was unable to complete the double play.
Stroman would continue to show his frustrations on the bench after being removed from the game.
“This game can definitely bring a lot of raw emotion,” Stroman said after the game. “I’m very passionate. I care about winning for this team and for this city. And sometimes my raw emotion comes out. I talked to everyone I needed to talk to after the game. Like I said, everything is geared towards winning and being great out there, sometimes it’s frustrating.”
When asked if he was specifically upset about the doubleheader’s failure, Stroman was refreshingly honest.
“It was frustrating,” he admitted. “At the end of the day, I felt like I made a good throw and it was a great throw, I wanted it to turn around there and we didn’t.
Stroman went just 4.1 innings and put his team, which was in the midst of a four-game losing streak, in a tough situation. Fortunately, the team would come out of the inning down just 3-1 and the Yankees bats came alive to eventually win 16-5.
A small part of that offensive explosion was actually Torres. The infielder who was benched the last two games due to lack of production at the plate, went 2 for 4 with a home run. As Torres rounded the bases and headed to the dugout, Stroman was the first to greet and congratulate him.
“I spoke to Gleyber shortly after. I’m someone who’s there for any and every guy,” Stroman said. “Right now, obviously, it’s frustrating, but nothing I love more is seeing my players winning, making big plays and swinging the stick. We are all very passionate about what we do, we all work very hard and sometimes raw emotions come out. “
Torres said afterward that he didn’t think much of Stroman’s actions and understood the frustrations.
“These kinds of situations where you’re trying to help your team and pitch well, emotions come out,” Torres said. “I really understand. I don’t have a problem with it. I know how difficult the game is. When you have that kind of relationship with your teammates, there’s never a problem.”
Stroman doubled down on his postgame comments by taking to social media to support his team and take responsibility for their actions on the field.
“The team went crazy today. I loved seeing that,” Stroman he wrote. “Raw emotion and passion are part of the game. When you care deeply… frustrations come to the surface. It’s my fault for losing my cool. I have to be better. I truly love this team and will always compete at the highest level for my brothers. Let’s go to the next one!”
The Yankees will now look to make it two in a row when they face the Blue Jays again on Saturday.
