Yankees' Marcus Stroman Gets Honest About Rough Outing

New York Yankees pitcher Marcus Stroman gets honest about what went wrong for him in his latest rough outing.

Sep 25, 2024; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone (17) takes the ball from starting pitcher Marcus Stroman (0) during the fourth inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images / Brad Penner-Imagn Images

In his return to the New York Yankees' rotation, Marcus Stroman had an outing that did not go as planned.

For the first time since being moved to the bullpen earlier in the month, Stroman started against the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday on short notice after news broke hours before that scheduled starter Nestor Cortes Jr. was being scratched. The lefty was then placed on the injured list after an MRI revealed a left elbow flexor strain that could knock him out for the rest of the year.

With the hopes that Stroman could find his form again in his first start back in the rotation since September 10 against the Kansas City Royals, he struggled mightily.

The right-hander gave up six straight hits to begin his night and was overall tagged for six earned runs on 10 hits in just 3.1 innings pitched in New York's 9-7 loss to their division rival.

After his difficult outing, Stroman who's in his first year of a two-year, $37 million contract he signed this past offseason, gave an honest assessment about his start.

"It's frustrating, but at the end of the day, I didn't execute and didn't do my job out there to keep my team in position to win," Stroman said to reporters after the game.

Even though it was Stroman's first start out of the rotation in two weeks, he did not think that played a factor in his performance.

"I was fine, there's no excuses. I have to be better out there at the end of the day, regardless of rhythm or when I last threw, I have to do a better job at keeping my team in the game," he said.

Stroman felt he was "inconsistent" with his mechanics and the shapes of his pitches were "varying."

Stroman, whose ERA was at 3.81 on August 30, has now seen it climb in September during this string of rough outings as it sits at 4.31 in 30 games pitched this season (29 starts).

With Cortes' status in question for the postseason, the Yankees may have to rely on Stroman as their top long reliever out of the bullpen in October.

The Bronx Bombers will try again on Thursday against the Orioles to clinch the American League East as their magic number remains at one game. The first pitch is scheduled for their series finale at 7:05 p.m. EST.