It was only a matter of time for Marcus Stroman to make his Major League debut. Those who have followed his journey to the big leagues–and those who have competed against him in the past like myself–knew he was destined to make it with the way he has dominated each level.
After getting called up, it didn’t take long to get thrown into the fire. He was summoned to pitch in the eighth inning for the Blue Jays against the Pirates with a 7-1 lead. He retired Travis Snyder but allowed a triple to Josh Harrison. The run came in to score on a sacrifice fly.
Stroman deserved the promotion, he dominated Triple-A Buffalo to the tune of a 1.69 ERA in 26.2 innings with a 37:7 strikeout to walk ratio.
He just turned 23-years-old on May 1, and he appears to have an illustrious career ahead of him.
I have played with and against him on a number of occasions, and if one thing is for sure, he will not let the spotlight affect him. He has been in the spotlight–albeit to a lesser degree–since he was eight years old, dominating on the Ronkonkoma Cardinals.
There have been doubters every step of the way, but he continued to dominate. It really began when he was promoted to varsity as an 8th grader and people questioned whether it was warranted. It continued when he won the Carl Yastrzemski Award and people felt there were players more deserving. Then people questioned whether he could compete with elite college hitters, then Cape Cod hitters, then for Team USA, then the minor leagues, etc. He has simply continued to use the doubt as fuel and continued to succeed.
His father, Earl, has kept him humble and grounded, and he is doing a tremendous job of earning a positive reputation for Long Island baseball.