The Stro Show Will Be Wrigleyville’s Main Event This Season As The Cubs Usher In A New Era of Baseball

After opting out of the Covid-shortened 2020 season, Marcus Stroman’s performance last year earned him a nice pay day over the winter as he signed a three-years $71 million contract with the Chicago Cubs.

Stroman, a member of the 2020 New York Mets rotation that featured 2021 All-Star and fellow MLBbro Black Knight pitcher Taijuan Walker as well as former two-time Cy Young award winner Jacob DeGrom. When it was all said and done, Stroman finished with the most prolific season out of the group.

Stroman is one of five pitchers who led the league in starts, with 33. The 3.02 ERA he posted was the second lowest of his career.  He held opponents to just a .242 batting average and, more importantly, stayed healthy for the entire season – he never missed a start.

It was not long ago that the Cubs snapped their 108-year World Series drought, in one of the most entertaining playoff series of the last decade.

Many thought a core of Javier Baez, Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo and Dexter Fowler would become baseball’s next dynasty, winning not one, not two, maybe even three championships. Chicago would never reach that championship level again. The era of curse breakers was officially over after the 2021 season.

Despite the Cubs entering what appears to be a rebuilding phase and Stroman being one of the top available starting pitchers on the market, he decided to take his talents, grit and electricity to Chicago’s North Side.

No pitcher toes the mound with as much swag as Stroman, or has his assortment of durags in their collection, for that matter.  He has plenty of big-game experience including carrying a no-hitter into the seventh inning during the Gold medal game of the 2017 World Baseball Classic against a stacked Team Puerto Rico lineup.  Stroman was eventually named the MVP of the tournament.

Not even the bright lights of the playoffs can phase him.  During the Blue Jays playoff run in 2015, Stroman joined their rotation after missing most of the regular season due to a torn ACL.  Stroman rehabbed at Duke University during his time off, while also working on getting his Bachelor’s degree in Sociology – which he would receive in May of 2016.

In Game 2 of the ALDS, Stroman threw seven innings, allowed three runs and allowed five hits with five strikeouts.

Stroman would get the ball later in that series in a winner-take-all Game 5 that climaxed with one of the greatest bat flips baseball fans have ever seen.  He pitched six innings, allowing two earned runs and striking out four as the Jays would advance following a 6-3 victory.

Stroman is also among the best fielding pitchers in the Majors. He won a Gold Glove with Toronto  in 2017 and made multiple plays to prove his case for a second in 2021 for his second – but was robbed and not even considered a finalist.

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Stroman will make his home debut at Wrigley Field this Saturday, April 9th, against a MLBbro-loaded Milwaukee Brewers squad including Devin Williams, Andrew McCutchen, Tyrone Taylor, and Lorenzo Cain.