Forget Marcus Stroman's Pitching...Are The Red Sox Ready For His Antics?
By Matt Dolloff, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- Last time Toronto Blue Jays Opening Day starter Marcus Stroman faced the Boston Red Sox, he was making his second start of the season last September as he made a comeback from a torn ACL in Spring Training. Not only did Stroman put on a performance with his six-pitch arsenal, he constantly turned heads with his demonstrative behavior on the mound.
Stroman kicked off the game by striking out Mookie Betts, after which he shouted in celebration and said to his teammates something to the effect of 'Let the people know I'm back!' He made another big celebratory gesture when the Blue Jays turned a 6-4-3 double play to get Stroman out of the seventh inning. He finished his start allowing just one earned run on 96 pitches.
It was another early career highlight for Stroman, who is quickly emerging as one of baseball's most talented - and emotional - young starters. He goes all-out on every pitch, and does the same with his emotions - and does not plan to change that. "We're just going to do everything in our power to go out there and get a win every day," Stroman said of the Blue Jays in a post to The Players Tribune. "We're going to have fun with it. We're going to let our personality show. We're going to let our emotions show."
The new Blue Jays ace (now that David Price is in a Red Sox uniform) picked up where he left off in 2015 with a solid outing to kick off the 2016 season, allowing three earned runs in eight innings against the Tampa Bay Rays. But it wasn't Stroman's pitching that made most of the headlines; it was his run-in with the Rays' Logan Morrison that stemmed from his heart-on-sleeve antics.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, with Toronto leading 3-1, Morrison flew out to left field and Stroman ostensibly said something to pump himself up while looking in Morrison's direction. The Rays first baseman thought Stroman was talking to him and took exception to whatever was said, but Stroman can be seen in the video repeatedly saying to Morrison "I'm not talking to you."
The incident was just a misunderstanding, and a result of Morrison forgetting about Stroman's tendency to shout things at himself on the mound, similar to former Red Sox starter Jake Peavy. Morrison promoted the stereotype of the hypersensitive baseball player in the moment, proving that there are still plenty of players out there who don't like to get "shown up" when an opponent gets the best of him.
"I just heard him yell something and caught him looking at me, so I thought he was talking to me," Morrison told the Tampa Bay Times. "He said he wasn't talking to me. It was my first time facing him and I forgot he did that whole 'yell at himself' thing, so maybe he was doing that, I don't know."
Stroman said that yes, that was indeed what happened. "Maybe he thought I was yelling at him, I was yelling at myself," he said. "I'm a big self-motivation guy. Pretty much I'm sure it was a miscommunication."
The Red Sox have already faced Stroman four times, so by now they should be familiar with his shenanigans. The Morrison incident wasn't the only one on Opening Day; Stroman made exaggerated faces and gestures on the mound all game long. Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval have not faced Stroman yet, so they may need a heads-up on how Stroman might behave if he gets them out.
He might roar like Mufasa, like he did last time he faced the Red Sox...
He might hoot & holler, like he did in last season's memorable American League Division Series against the Texas Rangers:
He might even give his glove a stern talking-to, like he did in the American League Championship Series against the Kansas City Royals:
Stroman is undoubtedly part of the exciting new baseball culture being championed by the likes of the Washington Nationals' Bryce Harper, who recently wore a "Make Baseball Fun Again" hat. Stroman recently defended his bat-flipping teammate Jose Bautista, who was a target of a rant by Hall-of-Fame pitcher Rich "Goose" Gossage about today's crop of players. He was unapologetic about his own behavior.
"I'm pretty emotional out there, I have a lot to prove," he said in the same interview. "So I'm going to continue to be emotional, regardless of what anybody says. [It's] something I pride myself on."
There's no doubt that Stroman is an exciting player to watch. And his antics are mostly harmless; it's not about embarrassing his opponent, it's about keeping himself locked in and giving a full effort.
Unfortunately, such comportment is bound to rub opponents the wrong way - certainly if it's a similar situation to Morrison's, in which a player isn't familiar with Stroman's personality. According to the Toronto Sun, Stroman has worked with team doctors on breathing exercises to use in-game to keep his emotions in check while on the mound, but that does not mean he won't still get excited, as he showed against the Rays on Opening Day.
It's unclear whether anyone in the Red Sox lineup isn't already expecting Stroman to shout things and act generally nutty as the game progresses, but hopefully they are and they can stay focused on the important part: getting on base and scoring runs.
They had a lot of trouble doing baseball things last time out against Stroman, and will have to compete at the highest level to turn things around on Friday, because it's already guaranteed that Stroman will be ready to battle. It's in his nature. Hopefully, the Red Sox can keep their battles focused on baseball and, if they falter, reign in their emotions as Stroman continues to exhibit them plainly.
The Red Sox have a lot of control over how they perform at the plate. What they cannot control is how Stroman acts on the mound when he gets people out, and one can presume he will have at least a handful of putouts Friday night, barring a Blue Jays disaster. It's important for the Red Sox not to react like Logan Morrison and, instead of worrying about the next fist-pump, focus on the next at-bat.
Matt Dolloff is a writer for CBSBostonSports.com. His opinions do not necessarily reflect that of CBS or 98.5 The Sports Hub. Have a news tip or comment for Matt? Follow him on Twitter @mattdolloff and email him at mdolloff@985thesportshub.com.
