The Toronto Blue Jays’ pitching rotation has been nothing short of disappointing this season, and Marcus Stroman’s struggles have been at the forefront of that matter.
A year after finishing in the top 10 in AL Cy Young voting, Stroman has begun the season 0-5 with a 7.71 ERA. He was placed on the disabled list Friday with shoulder fatigue and will have a chance to regroup while he’s out.
Stroman spoke with reporters on Friday and discussed his “frustrating” season.
“It just got to a point where it became very frustrating, physically and mentally. Just at a point where I felt like I had to work at 115-120 percent when I would normally be working at 80-85 percent to do what I do out there,” Stroman said via MLB.com’s Gregor Chisholm. “I put a lot of pride in my work ethic and how I go about getting ready because I truly do everything in my power to be my best out there. So when they don’t match up, yeah, it’s extremely frustrating.”
He says going on the DL will give him a chance to collect himself and recover.
“Just a collective decision between me and the staff, to take a step back, do what I need to do for my shoulder, get my emotion and everything in sync to get back to myself. I haven’t been myself out there at all.”
Even though Stroman has not come close to pitching like an ace, the Jays still entered Friday 20-18 on the season. If he can show improvement once he comes off the DL — not to mention if Marco Estrada, JA Happ, or Jaime Garcia improve — the Jays will be in good shape.
