May 6, 2014; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Toronto Blue Jays relief pitcher
Marcus Stroman(54) throws a pitch in the ninth inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. The Blue Jays defeated the Phillies, 6-5. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
Marcus Stroman is returning to the big leagues, this time as a starter.
The Blue Jays will promote the stout, hard throwing prospect to the majors tomorrow, when he will start against the Kansas City Royals, Gregor Chisholm of MLB.com tweets.
This will mark Stroman’s first career start. Toronto had called up the 23 year old righthander earlier in the season, but he only made five relief appearances before being optioned back to Triple-A. He was 1-0 during that brief big league stint, but with a 12.79 ERA in 6.1 innings.
A first round pick in 2012, Stroman was ranked this past winter by both Baseball America and MLB.com as the 55th best prospect in baseball. After a strong season in Double-A last year, Stroman started 2014 one level higher, where he continued his success on the mound. At the time of the call-up, he had a 3.03 ERA and 45 strikeouts in just 35.2 innings.
Speculation about a potential promotion began earlier this evening, when the prospect was scratched from his scheduled start against the Triple-A Syracuse Chiefs. But the Blue Jays made no announcement at the time and even Stroman stated that he did not what was going on.
Although he stands a stout 5’9, 185 lbs, Stroman is hard thrower, with a lively 92-93 MPH fastball that can touch the upper 90’s. His out pitch is his slider, a mid-80’s breaking ball that Baseball Prospectus referred to over the winter as the best slider in all of minor league baseball. After that, he also mixes in a cutter, curveball, and the occasional change up.
Toronto designated 34 year old righthander Bobby Korecky for assignment in order to make room for Stroman.