Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Marcus Stroman’s unique delivery led to some issues on Sunday, and he’s not happy with umpires because of it.
In the top of the fourth inning, with Stroman facing the Houston Astros, the young right-hander went into his delivery but had to stop part of the way through when the home plate umpire granted time to Brian McCann. Stroman was upset, and it appeared that home plate umpire Paul Nauert was fooled by a hesitation leg kick that is part of Stroman’s delivery.
After the game, Stroman was critical of umpires who struggled to parse his unique motion.
"The umpires have zero idea. They call it one time, the next inning they don't. They have a discrepancy for sure." #BlueJays
— Gregor Chisholm (@gregorMLB) July 8, 2017
"They're all over the place. They don't know. I'm going to keep doing it." #BlueJays
— Gregor Chisholm (@gregorMLB) July 8, 2017
Asked if he's talked to umpires about this and what the explanations have been: "They all say something different." #BlueJays
— Gregor Chisholm (@gregorMLB) July 8, 2017
"I can shut it down. It's my delivery. I feel like I can do any delivery to be honest with you, my strength is so good right now."
— Gregor Chisholm (@gregorMLB) July 8, 2017
"It's not like if I can't do it, it's going to hinder my performance. I'll just go through my normal delivery and I'll dominate that way."
— Gregor Chisholm (@gregorMLB) July 8, 2017
Stroman wasn’t called for a balk, but that whole rule is a gray area for umpires except in the most obvious of circumstances. His comments are nothing new — what is acceptable in one umpire’s eyes is a problem for others.
