Marcus Stroman
Top 10 Free Agents for the 2020-2021 MLB Offseason
by Blake Buscemi The “Covid” season has just wrapped up, and the offseason is officially underway. This year’s free agent class is very solid, headlined by a few players who could end up signing for over 100 million-dollars. Here is my breakdown and what teams I think are best fits for them. Number 10: Nelson Cruz Age: 40 Best Fit: Return to Twins Cruz will be entering his age 40 season, but that has not stopped him from remaining one of the league’s most feared hitters. In only 53 games played in 2020, he blasted 16 home runs, putting him on pace for almost 50 in a full season. His exit velocities have remained high and he really has not shown any signs of decline, something incredibly rare for someone his age. The Twins would be smart to re-sign him as their everyday DH for next season,...
Top Major League Players To Come From Long Island
While Long Island may not be the most fertile ground for developing big league talent, I think this list is pretty clear that we do have some high quality players. Two Hall of Famers is nothing to scoff at, but we will delve a little deeper to take a look at some of the other ones that don’t have the same national recognition. This is a subjective list but I will base it off their career MLB numbers via Baseball Reference – not high school or college accolades – so at least there’s at least a standard criteria. Here it goes. 15. Tony Graffanino (East Islip) Tony was really the perfect utility player at the Major League level and it allowed him to stick around for 15 years in a big league uniform with the Atlanta Braves, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Chicago White Sox, Kansa...
Here’s What Marcus Stroman Had to Say on ‘YNK’ Podcast
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 E...
Up Next Presented by The Yard Sports: Jayden Stroman
(We are bringing back our popular series called ‘Up Next’ in which we highlight the next crop of stars on Long Island. All the players have been recommended by coaches and none of them have played at the varsity level yet. We can confidently say that they will soon be. First up is Marcus Stroman’s younger brother, Jayden. This segment is sponsored by The Yard Sports Academy. Check them out here. ) Most 12-year-olds spend their summers playing video games with friends or riding their bikes. But most 12-year-olds don’t have an older brother that’s an established Major Leaguer. Jayden Stroman gets to enjoy the perks not often associated with being a middle schooler. Getting to hang out on the field current Major League superstars such as Alex Bregman, Vladimir Gu...
List of Long Islanders to Play in the Majors in Last 15 Years
With the promotion of Anthony Kay, that gives Long Island another player in “The Show”. While we may not be southern California, Florida or Texas in terms of generating power arms, we are right in that next tier. In fact, here’s some data according to baseball-almanac.com of the birth state of players during the 2019 season. California: 207 Florida: 113 Texas: 89 Georgia: 50 Illinois: 33 Tennessee: 29 Ohio: 29 Pennsylvania: 28 North Carolina: 26 New York: 25 New Jersey: 22 This is a pretty basic statistic showing how baseball in the northeast has been overlooked but we are pretty well represented across the game. Diving in more specifically to Long Island, we have had a good streak recently with native players making into the show. Historically, there’s been 77 play...
My Thoughts on Mets’ Acquisition of Marcus Stroman
(Editor’s Note: I was planning on taking the week off from blogging but I got the news about the trade and that scrapped my plan. So I write this somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean on my way to the Bahamas). The New York Mets surprised all of baseball by acquiring Toronto Blue Jays ace Marcus Stroman on Sunday evening. The deal comes with the July 31 trade deadline looming and many of the top World Series contending teams looking to acquire front-of-the-rotation pitchers. The Mets–who have an 11.2 percent chance of making the postseason–are not one of those contenders. While there is something to be said about a GM unafraid to pull the trigger on a deal, Mets’ GM Brodie Van Wagenen‘s credibility with the fanbase is all but depleted after the ill-fated Robinson C...
How Are the Local Players Performing in Pro Ball?
Major Leagues, School, Year (Team): Marcus Stroman, Pat-Med ’09 (Toronto Blue Jays) 2-7 record, 5.86 ERA, 66.0 IP Steven Matz, Ward Melville ’09 (New York Mets) 4-7 record, 3.38 ERA, 96.0 IP Nick Tropeano, West Islip ’08 (Los Angeles Angels) 3-4 record, 4.83 ERA, 54.0 IP Kevin McCarthy, Kellenberg ’10 (Kansas City Royals) 4-3 record, 3.69 ERA, 39.0 IP Travis Jankowski, Stony Brook ’12 (San Diego Padres) 211 at bats, .261 AVG, 2 HR, 9 RBI, 14 SB, .342 OBP, .336 SLG Minors (School, Draft Year and Affiliated Team) John Rooney (Hofstra 2018, Los Angeles Dodgers) STATS: N/A Bobby Honeyman (Stony Brook 2018, Seattle Mariners) STATS: 83 at bats, 24 H, .289 AVG, .326 OBP, .361 SLG Aaron Pinto (Stony Brook 2018, Cleveland Indians) STATS: 14.1 IP, 2.51 ERA, 15 K, .214 AVG Reiss Knehr (Fordham 2018, ...
How Are the Local Players Performing in Pro Ball?
It’s no secret that Long Island has proven its mettle in Major League Baseball by generating some legitimate talent in recent years. But what gets lost in the shuffle, however, is the dozens of players that are grinding it out in the minor leagues (and have been for years) for the chance to have their name on a big league scoreboard. Here are the current stats of the players currently active across affiliated professional baseball that have connections to Long Island. If I forgot anyone, please drop a comment to let me know. Several players were active until this season, for purposes of brevity we will limit this list to players currently active. Major Leagues, School, Year (Team): Marcus Stroman, Pat-Med ’09 (Toronto Blue Jays) 0-5 record, 7.71 ERA, 37.1 IP Steven Matz, Ward M...
How Marcus Stroman Went From League I MVP to World Baseball Classic MVP
(Editor’s Note: This piece was originally published on March 22, 2017 after Team USA captured the Gold Medal in the World Baseball Classic) Having coached him for five years on the diamond and one year on the gridiron, not many people know Marcus Stroman–who was just named Most Valuable Player of the 2017 World Baseball Classic–better than Patchogue-Medford HS Head Coach Anthony Frascogna. Prior to gaining national acclaim for taking a no-hitter into the seventh inning and leading Team USA to their first WBC championship, he was leading Pat-Med to league titles. But before that, he was the little guy that was turning everyone’s head no matter which sport he played. “I knew Marcus from when he was in elementary school because I knew Earl (his father), and I would see him on the fields...
Tips for Baseball in Cold Weather
by Philip Schrank, MD The good news is that the start of the regular spring baseball season is right around the corner. The bad news is that those warm spring days haven’t made it here yet. There are definitely things to modify to ensure a safe and healthy start to the new season when the weather is a little colder than usual. Extra warmup before practice starts Before you make your first throw make sure that you are spending at least 10 minutes on a generalized warmup for your entire body. A light jog around the field a few times mixed in with some jumping jacks should get your muscles warmed up properly and get your lungs and cardiovascular system ready for optimal performance. 2. Dynamic stretches over static stretches The days of everyone sitting in the grass and reaching for thei...
Top 10 Countdown: Most Popular Articles of 2017 (Part 2)
We continue our countdown of the Top 10 most popular articles from 2017. Yesterday was Part 1 with No. 10-6. You can see that article by clicking here. No. 5: Previewing the Mega Match Up Between Shoreham-Wading River and Wantagh Date: June 5 This was dubbed as the match up of the year between the red-hot bats of SWR led by Brian Morrell and the reigning Class A Champion Wantagh Warriors. It was very surprising to see Anthony Fontana–not Jimmy Joyce–take the mound, but it wound up being a tremendous game anyway. Someone (wink, wink) predicted a 4-3 victory by Wantagh and it was not far off, as the Warriors got to Morrell for 4 runs in the first inning before hanging on to a 4-2 victory to advance to the New York State championship. Full story here. No. 4: Commack Advances to Su...
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