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Marcus Stroman To Pitch Out Of Bullpen

By Anthony Franco | September 15, 2023 at 7:48pm CDT

7:48pm: Stroman will indeed pitch out of the bullpen for the time being, writes Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune. He could be an option to return to the rotation at some point down the stretch, but he’ll build up with multi-inning relief work. The Cubs will stick with a starting five of Steele, Hendricks, Wicks, Jameson Taillon and Javier Assad for the time being.

6:49pm: The Cubs announced they’ve reinstated Marcus Stroman from the 15-day injured list. Daniel Palencia was optioned to Triple-A Iowa in a corresponding move.

Stroman is back for the first time since the end of July. He initially landed on the IL with inflammation in his right hip. That wasn’t a particularly serious issue, but he was subsequently diagnosed with a rib cartilage fracture that necessitated a longer shutdown. At one point, it seemed unclear if he’d make it back to the club at all this season.

Fortunately for Chicago, he’ll return for the last couple weeks. The Cubs have Justin Steele, Kyle Hendricks and Jordan Wicks lined up to start this weekend’s three-game set in Arizona. The Cubs don’t have a set starter for their next series against the Pirates, which begins Tuesday. It’s possible they hold Stroman until that point, but the fact that they activated him tonight might suggest he’ll be available out of the bullpen this weekend.

Stroman has been throwing for a couple weeks but didn’t go on a minor league rehab stint. The Cubs presumably won’t want him immediately logging 75-100 pitches in his first game action in six weeks. A few multi-inning relief stints could be a way of building his arm strength while still getting him into potentially pivotal games as the club tries to lock down a playoff berth.

For the first couple months of the season, the right-hander was in the NL Cy Young conversation. After tossing seven scoreless innings against the Pirates on June 20, he carried a 2.28 ERA with a massive 59.9% grounder percentage over 16 starts. He received a deserved All-Star nod for the second time in his career on the back of that strong first half. However, Stroman had a couple clunkers headed into the break and was rocked in three of his first four outings of the second half. Over his seven starts preceding the IL stint, he allowed an even 9.00 ERA in 30 innings, with his ground-ball rate dipping to 52.9%.

Showing well over the final couple weeks and potentially into October would go a long way towards bolstering his stock in advance of a possible second career free agent trip. Stroman has a $21MM player option for the upcoming season. It seemed a lock he’d decline that in search of a longer-term pact while he was dominating over the first couple months. While that could still be the case, the option would have been more borderline if Stroman had lost the bulk of the second half to injury. He’ll look to demonstrate he has put the rib issue behind him.

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Chicago Cubs Newsstand Marcus Stroman

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View Comments (29)
Post a Comment

29 Comments

  1. mike127

    2 years ago

    We now know that a fractured rib cartilage injury take six to seven weeks to recover from. The mystery has been solved.

    1
    Reply
  2. Prunella Vulgaris

    2 years ago

    Go Cubs!

    2
    Reply
  3. User 1855579867

    2 years ago

    Marcus, we trust you will keep your focus on that long term contract that will be hell for your new team.

    2
    Reply
    • Blue Baron

      2 years ago

      But not for you.

      2
      Reply
  4. mike127

    2 years ago

    Have all the fingers crossed—-Stroman to pitch well and Seiya moved out of right field and to DH tonight. Morel in right (yikes). Hoping that there is nothing wrong with Seiya….late lineup changes usually are not good.

    Reply
    • CubsWin108

      2 years ago

      morel’s biggest issue is hes literally the worst defender the cubs have had in the past 5 yrs, hes a DH only which means when hes slumping there will be times where is a healthy scratch for 5 games

      Reply
  5. avenger65

    2 years ago

    This has nothing at all to do with Stroman, but while Baltimore and the Rays are playing in a hugely important series, MLB network is showing the riveting match up between the nyy and the Pirates. Yankees are God!

    3
    Reply
    • Blue Baron

      2 years ago

      PNC Park is gorgeous.

      4
      Reply
      • Lloyd Emerson

        2 years ago

        Aye, that it is, laddie. Absolute gem of a ballpark.

        5
        Reply
      • Kruk it

        2 years ago

        If only the team was!!

        Reply
    • User 1855579867

      2 years ago

      It’s because Roberto Clemente is being celebrated – please check the person to the left and to the right of you – is everyone celebrating? Please discreetly report anyone not celebrating.

      4
      Reply
      • Blue Baron

        2 years ago

        Francisco Lindor for the Mets and Alexis Diaz for the Reds wore 21 tonight.

        1
        Reply
      • Edp007

        2 years ago

        Yes and then send them to vaccination camp

        Reply
    • Chicks dig bunting

      2 years ago

      Rays all ready took the first two

      Reply
  6. This one belongs to the Reds

    2 years ago

    An expensive bullpen guy.

    I like a strong bullpen but geez.

    Reply
    • Blue Baron

      2 years ago

      But what?

      Reply
    • CubsWin108

      2 years ago

      lmao be gone troll

      Reply
      • Blue Baron

        2 years ago

        Go fly the L.

        Reply
        • CubsWin108

          2 years ago

          not talking to u

          Reply
        • Blue Baron

          2 years ago

          OK. Thanks for clarifying that.

          Reply
  7. Rezimodos

    2 years ago

    Intriguing development down the stretch.

    2
    Reply
  8. Rezimodos

    2 years ago

    We’ll see how long it takes before he cops an attitude about the situation and begins airing his grievances throughout the clubhouse.

    5
    Reply
    • CubsWin108

      2 years ago

      bruh he’s coming off injury, its highly probable stro agrees with the move. Also he’s been MUCH better in his relationship with the fans and team, he regularly tweets out how much he loves the atomosphere. He even said he would’ve been willing to resign with the cubs in the offseason had he been traded which was the plan before his injury.

      Reply
  9. Logistics Guy

    2 years ago

    Most manager In MLB who’s teams are fight for a playoff spot have It In the back of they minds that If team fail It may mean that they get fired.

    Such Is not the case for David Ross as long as Jed Hoyer Theo Epstein shadow Is running the Cub David Ross Is safe. Good Luck Cubs Fans

    1
    Reply
    • CubsWin108

      2 years ago

      David Ross has been a much better manager, his job is 100% safe no matter what happens to the Cubs this season. If I had to say his job is top 5 in safeist.

      Reply
      • Bujh8er

        2 years ago

        His job shouldn’t be safe – Ross has directly lost the Cubs multiple games with terrible bullpen management. His job is only safe because of his role on the 2016 Cubs. He also sucked on Dancing with the Stars.

        Side note, letting Ian Happ hit in the 3 hole most of the season makes zero sense – he takes his walks but is not a run producer.

        Reply
    • CubsWin108

      2 years ago

      very good, take all the time needed to come back. Our rotation is gonna be nasty for a 3 game series, Steele, Stro, Wicks (maybe kyle)

      Reply
  10. DugoutJester

    2 years ago

    Does anyone actually like this guy(srs)?

    Stroman seems like the guy you want to just cold clock at the bar.

    Reply
  11. whyhayzee

    2 years ago

    It’s a long throw from the bullpen to home plate. Wouldn’t they rather have him pitch from the mound?

    Reply

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