Jayden Stroman has won Suffolk County's 57th annual Carl Yastrzemski Award. The award recognizes the top player in Suffolk County. The Yastrzemski Award is presented by the Suffolk County Baseball Coaches Association and named for Carl Yastrzemski. The Red Sox great grew up in Bridgehampton before becoming a Hall of Famer.
Stroman was on hand for the 41st award back in 2008 when his brother, and now New York Yankee, Marcus won the award. There was always going to be pressure on Jayden after that, and he has lived up to the hype.
Stroman is a switch hitter, that is more known for being on the mound than anything else. Stroman is on his 3rd school and with that came even more expectations that he surpassed this season. As a pitcher he compiled a perfect 5-0 record with 50 strikeouts in just 20 innings. His tiny 0.70 ERA speaks to his dominance as much as the K's. His upside can be heard from the stands, even if you can't quite see the 98-mph heat. The pop of the catcher's mitt is all you need to know that Stroman is special.
That special talent doesn't end on the mound though as he hit .456 with a 1.547 OPS. His five home runs were among Suffolk's best, and he also has speed stealing 24 bags and only being caught once. He is a true five tool talent, and maybe six if we include pitching as an entirely other tool.
Stroman will likely be drafted in this year's MLB draft, but he might choose to go to college where he has switched ACC schools. He was once a Duke commit and now it's the University of Virginia that has the honors of having his attention. Either school would be lucky to have him and that goes beyond his pure athletics as Stroman is an exceptional student with a 4.0 GPA and recently won the Butch Dellecave Award which is given to Suffolk’s top scholar-athlete.
Patchogue-Medford has now taken home the Yaz award in three of the last four years with Josh Knoth winning it in 2022 and 2023.