Marcus Stroman has been traded to the New York Mets from the Blue Jays, but there is one major reason why he won’t be successful with the Mets.
Starter Marcus Stroman is headed to New York–just like we all thought… but it is the Mets.
The New York Mets are currently 6 games back of the National League Wild Card race with a little more than two months left in the 2019 regular season.
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But GM Brodie Van Wagenen thought it was smart to trade for Marcus Stroman, who only has one more year of control.
The New York Mets are not in contention and won’t be the favorites for the division going into next season, but New York must have been confident in their club.
But let’s get to Marcus Stroman in a Mets uniform. It isn’t going to work.
Stroman, 28, is one of the few ground ball pitchers in the league. He is a “ground ball machine” as put by a rival executive, according to ESPN’s Buster Olney.
You might be saying that ground balls are great, especially with all of the home runs that are on the rise, but it’s the players behind him that don’t mix well with Stroman.
The Mets are statistically the worst defensive infield in the majors.
NYM Infielders # Of Errors
SS Amed Rosario 13
1B Pete Alonso 9
3B Todd Frazier 8
2B Robinson Cano 5
The combination of a ground ball pitcher and a terrible infield doesn’t mix and will never mix. Mets fielders combined have made 74 errors this year, the third-worst total in the NL.
Then, Marcus Stroman has been the ace of the Blue Jays his entire career, but now he will be taking the backseat to Jacob deGrom in New York so it will be interesting to see how he deals with that and how he deals with the fans when he has poor starts.
I doubt Stroman will work with the New York Mets.