The city of Philadelphia is known for its cheesesteaks, but now they appear to be embracing a different kind of delicacy.
New Phillies lefty Matt Strahm had a picturesque outing Tuesday against the New York Yankees. He got the start and fired four shutout innings, allowing just one hit and one walk while striking out three. Strahm’s strong showing helped the Phillies defeat the Yankees 4-1 for their first win of the season.
Matt Strahm: 4 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 BB, 3 K. 61 pitches, 42 strikes. Fantastic work tonight. pic.twitter.com/CioC5yGpyZ
— PHILLIES BELL (@PhilliesBell) April 5, 2023
After the game, Strahm was christened with a new nickname by Phillies outfielder Brandon Marsh — “Pastrami.” Marsh spoke admirably of his teammate “Pastrami” and said, “I’ll go to war with that dude any day.”
A few hours before tonight's game, Brandon Marsh took stock of the energy in the Phillies clubhouse.
"We got 'Pastrami' on the bump today. I’m ready to watch him compete. And play some better defense behind him. I’ll go to war with that dude any day."
https://t.co/8dSgIbz9Po pic.twitter.com/TidkW5E1NP— Alex Coffey (@byalexcoffey) April 5, 2023
The 31-year-old Strahm, who signed a two-year contract with the Phillies in the offseason, has been a reliever for most of his MLB career. But he also has experience starting and is currently operating out of the team’s fifth starter spot to deliver a handful of innings (before giving way to the bullpen).
As for nicknames, it looks like “Pastrami” is a fresh one for Strahm, whose Baseball Reference page only lists “Strahmy” for his “Nicknames” section. At least that is much better than Strahm’s previous claim to fame — getting ejected for a strange reason when he was on one of his previous teams.
