Being born and raised in Medford, Marcus Stroman certainly understands the aura and grandeur that comes with opening day at Yankee Stadium. When Gerritt Cole went down with an injury the coaching staff asked Stroman if he would rearrange his normal pitching schedule to pitch on opening day. Stroman declined, because he wanted opening day at the stadium and boy did he deliver.
Stroman, who is now on his 4th team, has had some huge moments in his career. He is a two time All Star, a Gold Glove winner, and not only was he on the World Baseball Classic team in 2017, but he won the MVP awards for those games. Yet, he never started an opening day in pinstripes until this season. With Cole going down Yankee fans were looking for answers in their rotation. They needed an ace to step up and Stroman wanted to show all of New York he could be that missing piece.
After the earth shook on Friday afternoon, the Bombers took the field and Stroman was front and center. He pitched just as well as anyone could in that spot and despite the immense pressure delivered once again. His final line was six scoreless innings, just 3 hits allowed, one walk and 6 strikeouts. That now brought his ERA to 0.00 in his two starts, spanning 12 innings, as a member of the Yankees. As he walked off the mound you could see how much it meant to him. Stroman was giddy as he left to a standing ovation, he was applauding into his glove and with a smirk on his face. The Long Island kid made all of the island proud and he put his performance where his mouth was. He asked for opening day and he certainly delivered.