Long Island’s own Marcus Stroman appeared on Mike Stud‘s “YNK” podcast. Atypical from most interviews, it was 90 minutes long and the Pat-Med native opened up about a variety of topics that are typically not mentioned on radio or TV.
Marcus attended Duke University with Mike Stud (Mike Seander) and they became very close friends. Seander hosted Stroman on his official visit and he even encouraged him to begin his music career. They have remained close to this day, and Stroman even appeared on three of his songs (These Days, Shine, Take it How You Wanna).
Stroman was traded to the Mets in a pre-trade dealine deal that surprised many in baseball, who expected him to be dealt to a contender like the New York Yankees. He wound up performing well; going 4-2 with a 3.77 ERA over 11 starts (59.2 IP). His presence gave the Mets one of the deepest rotations in baseball–along with Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Zack Wheeler and childhood friend Steven Matz.
He will be a free agent at the end of the 2020 season, where he will be in line for a long-term contract given his track record of durability and quality starts. Over his six year career, he has a 3.76 ERA over 849.1 IP and a 1.29 WHIP. Much of that was in the ultra-competitive AL East. He has also proven to be dependable in the big moment–he went 4-0 with a 1.67 ERA during the pennant race in 2015 and also pitched Team USA to their first Gold Medal in the 2017 WBC.
Here’s some highlights from the podcast:
- He does not eat on the day of his outings, preferring to eat a carb-heavy meal the night before so that he feels light when he is pitching. He also does not drink anything in the dugout during his outing, just coffee or a pre-workout before the game.
- On the mound, he repeats positive affirmations to visual success.
- “I’m Nasty” is inscribed on his glove
- He does not speak much the night before games because he is nervous. He wakes up nervous too, which he considers normal for athletes.
- Staying flexible is very important to him.
- In his earlier Major League career, he says he was more amped up on the mound.
- He still has love for Canada despite being traded from Toronto.
- The Mets have a good young team mixed with veterans and he loves the makeup of the team.
- Anthony Rendon and Dustin Pedroia are the toughest batters he’s had to face. Rendon is tough because he is so quiet at the plate, so he doesn’t try to mess with his timing. Pedroia is tough because he will foul off pitch-after-pitch waiting for you to make a mistake.
- He doesn’t go out much anymore, preferring to stay in because this is an important year for him.
- His house is built in a way that allows him to not have to leave often. It has a gym and he has a full-time chef and trainer.
- He keeps his circle very small and very tight on purpose as to not divert his energy in the wrong places.
- Crafting a brand on social media is important, keeping it authentic and organic.
- Suffering the torn ACL in 2015 was the biggest hardship he has every dealt with. After getting the news he called his mom to enroll him back at Duke so he could finish his degree.
- Working out twice per day and going to school was a grind but he’s glad he did it because he can’t stay stagnant.
- Even when he was young, he was considered small for his age. He has always embraced it because his father instilled that in him.
- He’s excited to swing the bat again in 2020, the Mets have unusually talented hitting pitchers.
- His HDMH foundation will be hosting a charity event in New York and Canada soon.
- He plans to make more music in the future but does not want to use his music as his “walk-up song”.
- Family is very important to him. He would like to have a family someday but possibly not necessarily being married.
