Marcus Stroman barely hides desire for Yankees trade: ‘Built for this’ скачать в хорошем качестве

Marcus Stroman barely hides desire for Yankees trade: ‘Built for this’

Marcus Stroman wouldn’t come out and say he wanted to pitch for the Yankees.  After all, he’s spent his career in the AL East with the Blue Jays.  But there was no doubting the right-hander would embrace the opportunity of returning to New York to play in the Bronx, with the Blue Jays rebuilding and Stroman almost certain to be traded by the July 31 trade deadline.  Asked about performing in a big market and dealing with being under a microscope, Stroman pulled no punches on Monday before Toronto opened a series against the Yankees.  “I’m built for this,’’ said the 28-year-old, who grew up on Long Island and went to Patchogue-Medford High School. “Anybody can say whatever, but I’m built for the bright lights. I’m not scared of it. I’ve never been. I take that ball each and every time with the pressure on. I love it.’’  Given the opportunity to say he wanted to pitch for the Yankees, Stroman said: “No comment. I don’t even want to think about it.”  Of course, the Yankees aren’t the only playoff contender that will pursue Stroman, but the Yankees are looking to improve the rotation and the two teams pulled off a significant deal last year, when the Yankees landed J.A. Happ.   see also Get ready for Yankees to wear black uniforms Here is something that will make baseball purists puke. When... Stroman is headed to free agency next year and a move to New York sounded like it would be just what Stroman wants.  “New York is like the mecca of the world,’’ the 5-foot-7 Stroman said. “I love the excitement, I love the bright lights, I love competition, I love pressure, so I’ve always loved pitching here. Even if I haven’t necessarily pitched fairly well here, I’ve always enjoyed it. … I love the spotlight. The bigger the moment, that’s kind of where I’ve always wanted to be.”  Stroman has pitched well in the midst of a bad year in Toronto. He’s 5-9 with a 3.04 ERA and has a WHIP of 1.252.  “My track record speaks for itself at this point,’’ Stroman said. “I compete, get a lot of ground balls and I get strikeouts when I need them.”  His numbers back that up. Stroman’s ground-ball rate of 57.9% (according to Fangraphs) is lower than his career average, but still considerably higher than anyone in the Yankees’ rotation, which is led by Masahiro Tanaka’s 47.7%.  And he’s impressed a new teammate that knows about pitching in New York.  “He feeds off the stage,’’ David Phelps said. “He’s always out to prove people wrong, no matter what it is. He’s gonna battle.’’  Phelps compared Stroman’s demeanor on the field to another ex-teammate, Jose Fernandez of the Marlins.  “Just the way he competes,’’ Phelps said. “He takes every competition personally. And he is determined to go six or seven innings every time out, kind of like CC [Sabathia] was when I was a rookie with the Yankees in 2012. He’s a stopper.’’  Stroman said he thought about asking to be pushed back a day so he could face the Yankees on Monday, but decided not to since the Blue Jays’ rotation is