Chicago Cubs' Marcus Stroman Continues Slide, Puts Up Stats that Cubs Haven't Seen in More Than a Decade
Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Marcus Stroman struggled again on Monday night, allowing six earned runs over three innings against the Cincinnati Reds.
It continues a major regression for Stroman, who was one of the best pitchers in baseball over the first three months of the season.
It's also a historic backslide over the entirety of the month of July.
Per Jesse Rogers of ESPN:
Crazy month for a guy that was going so well. Per @ESPNStatsInfo : Stroman allowed 27 earned runs in July over 6 starts. That's the most ER in a calendar month by a Cubs pitcher since Jeff Samardzija (27 ER) in June 2012.
For the season, Stroman still has a 3.85 ERA but it's been a precipitous fall for the righty. It also comes at an inopportune time, as the Cubs are trying to catch the Reds in the National League Central. Chicago entered play at just 4.0 games back of the Reds in the division.
At the time of this posting, the Cubs trail Cincinnati, 6-4.
It will be an interesting decision for Stroman in the offseason. He's got a $21 million player option this offseason. He seemed certain to opt-out and test the market after the first three months, but if this continues, he may need to opt-in to a 2024 year in Chicago.
The Cubs are 53-52 and will potentially make more moves ahead of the Tuesday trade deadline. They've already acquired slugger Jeimer Candelario from the Washington Nationals in a pre-deadline deal.
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