Yankees right handed Marcus Stroman has never shied away from showing how he feels and Friday was no exception.
As the veteran struggled to get through the fifth inning – after allowing the Blue Jays to load the bases with no outs – he was Vladimir Guerroro Jr. to hit a ground ball to the shortstop that could have been a much-needed double play.
Instead, Guerrero beat the throw to first base Gleyber Torres. Shortly after the safe call, Stroman was shown on the broadcast yelling into his glove. It appeared that Stroman was angry that Torres was unable to complete the double play.
Stroman continued to express his frustrations in the dugout after being pulled from the game.
“This match can definitely bring a lot of raw emotion,” Stroman said after the match. “I’m very passionate. I care about winning for this team and this city. And sometimes my raw emotion comes out. I talked to everyone after the game that I had to contact. Like I said, it’s all focused on winning and being great. Sometimes it’s frustrating.”
When asked if he was specifically angry about the failed doubles match, Stroman was refreshingly honest.
“It was frustrating,” he admitted. “At the end of the day I felt like I had made a good pitch and that was a big spot, I wanted it to be played there and we didn’t. There’s some raw emotion that comes out.”
Stroman played only 4.1 innings, putting his team in the midst of a four-game losing streak in a tough spot. Fortunately, the team came out of the inning trailing only 3-1, and the Yankees bats came to life to win 16-5.
A small part of that offensive outburst was actually Torres. The infielder, who had been benched the last two games because of his lack of production at the plate, went 2-for-4 with a home run. When Torres rounded the bases and headed to the dugout, Stroman was the first to greet him and congratulate him.
“I talked to Gleyber right after. I’m a guy that’s there for everybody,” Stroman said. “It’s obviously frustrating at the time, but I love watching my guys win, make big plays, swing the bat. We’re all very passionate about what we do, we all work extremely hard and sometimes raw emotions come out.”
Torres said afterward that he didn’t think Stroman’s actions were that significant and that he understood the frustrations.
“Those type of situations where you’re trying to help your team and pitch well, emotions come up,” Torres said. “I really understand it. I don’t have a problem with that. I know how tough the game is. When you have that kind of relationship with your teammates, it’s never a problem.”
Stroman backed up his comments after the game by taking to social media to support his team and take responsibility for his actions on the field.
“The team went crazy today. I love seeing it,” Stroman wrote. “Raw emotion and passion are part of the game. When you care deeply, frustrations come to light. That’s on me because I lost my cool. I have to be better. I really love this team and always will competing at the highest level for my brothers. On to the next one!”
The Yankees will now look to record their second straight win when they play the Blue Jays again on Saturday.
