Batter's Box Interactive Magazine - Marcus Stroman the Strikeout Machine

The Jays affiliates were 2-4 on the final day of July, with Lansing's game being postponed due to rain. Marcus Stroman had his second consecutive double digit strikeout game, but continues to be plagued by the long ball with New Hampshire.

Buffalo 2 – Columbus 3

Chien-Ming Wang gave up three runs in the first inning, but still put together 7 quality innings giving up 3 earned runs. Mickey Storey pitched a clean 8th inning.

The Bisons managed two runs tonight against Columbus. Mike McCoy hit his third home run of the season in the 5th inning, and Sean Ochinko had a 6th inning single which scored Ryan Goins.

New Hampshire 6 – Bowie 2

Marcus Stroman had another excellent start tonight, as he pitched 6.2 innings giving up 2 earned runs, giving up 4 hits, with 2 walks, and 13 strikeouts. But, he also gave up his 10th homerun of the season.

On the offensive side, Kenny Wilson had a strong second game back from rehab, and was 2-5 with his 8th stolen base of the season with a run scored. Andy Burns was swinging the bat strong as well, as he was 3-5 with a double, homerun and his 6th stolen base.

Dunedin 2 – Bradenton 5

Jesse Hernandez had a decent start for Dunedin, as he pitched 6 innings, giving up 4 earned runs, 5 hits, one walk, and five strikeouts.

Dunedin was only able to score runs in the first inning, as Mike Crouse singled home Jon Berti, then proceeded to steal second and third base. Later on in that inning, Mike Crouse scored on a wild pitch.

Lansing – South Bend (PPD Rain)

Vancouver 1 – Hillsboro 7

Vancouver had 5 hits, and 7 walks, but somehow only managed to score one run. In the first inning Andy Fermin’s triple scored Dickie Thon.

Alonzo Gonzalez started the game for Vancouver, and gave up one run over 3 innings. Justin James pitched the fourth and fifth innings, and gave up 5 runs, of which only 2 were earned.

Bluefield 7 – Danville 2

Zak Wasilewski started for Bluefield and threw 4 scoreless innings only giving up one hit, with 5 walks, and 5 strikeouts. After Zak, Joe Lovecchio pitched three innings giving up two earned runs. Finally, Yefry Del Rosario closed out the game for his 2nd save of the year.

Matt Dean, and Jonathan Davis each had 2 doubles, and Dawel Lugo had a triple in game where Bluefield scored 7 runs on a balanced attack.

GCL Blue Jays 2 – GCL Braves 4

Clinton Hollon threw well again in his second professional outing, as he threw 3 scoreless innings, giving up 1 hit, with 1 walk, and two strikeouts. Matt Smoral pitched 1.2 innings scoreless innings as well, but he continues to have command issues, and he walked 4 in his short outing.

A rehabbing John Tolisano hit a solo home run in the fifth inning, and Nathan DeSouza scored in the fifth inning after Tolisano grounded out.

Three Stars

3-Andy Burns

2-Matt Dean

1-Marcus Stroman

Posted by tercet on Thursday, August 01 2013 @ 09:38 AM EDT.

Marcus Stroman the Strikeout Machine | 20 comments | Create New Account

The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.

Mike Green - Thursday, August 01 2013 @ 09:55 AM EDT (#277372) #

Stroman's five outs on balls in play included four on the ground. Of the 3 hits other than the homer, two were on the ground and one was a "soft fly ball". Judging by the ball-in-play distribution, it looks like he wasn't playing with fire too much. He induced one double play and also picked a runner off second. Eleven of his thirteen strikeouts were swinging strikeouts.

I'd call it a dominant outing.

John Northey - Thursday, August 01 2013 @ 10:50 AM EDT (#277378) #

Stroman's K/9 is now up to 10.9 while his BB/9 is at 2.5 - both very solid figures. The big issue is his HR/9 is still high at 1.2 - get that down and you have a potential star.

ramone - Thursday, August 01 2013 @ 11:07 AM EDT (#277380) #

In BP today they said again that Stroman doesn't get much plane on his fastball and will likely be bullpen bound as a late inning reliever. Paywall so I won't post a link.

Mike Green - Thursday, August 01 2013 @ 11:18 AM EDT (#277382) #

Maybe they are right. Nonetheless, there certainly have been pitchers who succeeded in a starting role without getting a good downward plane on the fastball. He's getting lefties and righties out about equally. He has worked up to 6 innings plus without much difficulty so far.

Sanchez is probably still considered a better prospect than Stroman by the scouting community. I think they are (at best for Sanchez) about equal.

tercet - Thursday, August 01 2013 @ 12:06 PM EDT (#277386) #

Marcus has the highest HR/9 rate among NH starters, even higher then Deck McGuire who is thought of an extreme fly-ball pitcher.

85bluejay - Thursday, August 01 2013 @ 12:09 PM EDT (#277387) #

Sam Dyson has not allowed a HR in 80 IP this year & 2.48 GO/AO - while he may eventually end up as a BP guy, that kind of outstanding GB rate would especially be welcome in a hitter's park like Rogers centre - sometime in 2015, Miami could have Alvarez/Nicolino/Dyson in their rotation - not bad for a dump trade.
Within the next year, Syndergaard/Wojociechowski/Nicolino/Dyson/Nolin could all be in ML rotations - that's quite a coup to the 2010 draft.

Hodgie - Thursday, August 01 2013 @ 12:22 PM EDT (#277391) #

If Dyson and Wojociechowski have MLB rotation spots that will say more about their respective teams than the merits of those positions.

Hodgie - Thursday, August 01 2013 @ 12:27 PM EDT (#277392) #

Good to see Wilson back on the field. I was interested to see if he could consolidate the gains he made last season and while it seems he has been around forever, he is still only 23. While their chances at stardom are virtually nonexistent, late bloomers like Pillar, Burns and Wilson could wind up being useful pieces to the organization.

uglyone - Thursday, August 01 2013 @ 01:16 PM EDT (#277396) #

M.Stroman (22): 76.0ip, 10.9k/9, 2.5bb/9, 1.2hr/9, .273babip, 2.96era, 3.40fip

That's better than a whole whack of kids - even older kids - that made Mayo's recent top-100.

Beyonder - Thursday, August 01 2013 @ 01:17 PM EDT (#277397) #

I guess you could call all three of those guys late bloomers given their age, but Pillar has had nothing but success since he joined the organization in 2011. As he has marched through each level of the minors over the last three years, his combined slash line is 325/370/471.

I wouldn't be surprised if the team's efforts to find a home for Melky before the deadline were prompted in large part by Pillar's performance.

uglyone - Thursday, August 01 2013 @ 01:30 PM EDT (#277398) #

and I still like to point out Stroman's HR splits:

First 26ip: 6hr, 2.1hr/9
Last 50ip: 4hr, 0.7hr/9

uglyone - Thursday, August 01 2013 @ 01:51 PM EDT (#277399) #

I think Wilson is a clear late bloomer, at least.

Pillar has been a bit older for a prospect, but even he was only drafted 2 drafts ago, with the Jays being arguably overpatient with him considering he's never had any trouble handling any level to this point. Spending all of 2011 in rookie ball at age 22 when he .343 with a .900ops seems a bit cautious, as does spending most of 2012 in A-ball as a 23yr old hitting .322 with a .390obp. Then again, considering his lack of power, maybe it wasn't an awful idea to stay patient with him as he improved his approach at the plate.

Burns was drafted as a 20 year old in 2011:

2011 (Rk/A-): 110pa, 6.6bb%, 12.7k%, .259babip, .250/.309/.380/.689, .323woba, 94wRC+
2012 (A / A): 325pa, 11.7bb%, 23.1k%, .306babip, .248/.351/.464/.815, .369woba, 129wRC+
2013 (A+/AA): 440pa, 8.6bb%, 15.9k%, .320babip, .285/.345/.471/.816, .365woba, 126wRC+

Unfortunately it seems to be taking him a while to adjust to AA, though he does seem to be improving. I was hoping he'd take to it a bit quicker.

Kenny Wilson for sure seems like a late bloomer, though. Signed at 18, mostly crappy for 4 years, then suddenly at age 22 cuts down his Ks and improves his contact markedly, and is suddenly posting quality AVGs and OBPs to go along with his patience and speed and defense. Michael Crouse seems to be another guy who might be blooming late at age 22.

And when talking about "late bloomers" at age 22 down at A+ suddenly improving their K and contact rates, I'm always reminded that Anthony Gose is still only 22 years old, and in AAA.

uglyone - Thursday, August 01 2013 @ 01:59 PM EDT (#277400) #

and just as I post that, Burns strokes another HR.

Kid finally seems to be figuring AA out.

John Northey - Thursday, August 01 2013 @ 02:08 PM EDT (#277401) #

Good point uglyone. That is what we all want to see from the prospects - if they have an issue early they adjust and do well after. Over his last 50 IP 13 BB 63 SO 4 HR vs his first 26 1/3 IP 6 HR 8 BB 29 SO. K/9 11.34 vs 9.9, BB/9 2.34 vs 2.7, HR/9 2.1 vs 0.7. Improvement across the board.

Mike Green - Thursday, August 01 2013 @ 02:28 PM EDT (#277402) #

Kenny Wilson has not cut down his Ks. He has struck out 29 times in 100 PAs and has very little power. He is putting up a decent slash line in double A courtesy of a .410 BABIP.

greenfrog - Thursday, August 01 2013 @ 04:49 PM EDT (#277408) #

I see the Stroman bandwagon is filling up - good to see. Also, Stroman should be ahead of Sanchez at this point in their respective careers, as he's 14 months older than Sanchez, who turned 21 on July 1.

uglyone - Thursday, August 01 2013 @ 05:09 PM EDT (#277409) #

Mike - well, Kenny did cut down the Ks bigtime last year in his breakout season. After 4 years of K-rates in the high-20s, last year he was at around 17% at two levels over a full season.

You're right that this year he's back up to his old tricks with a K-rate in the high 20s, but it's only been 100pa at a high level sample size to look at there.

Mike Green - Thursday, August 01 2013 @ 05:14 PM EDT (#277411) #

Last year, Wilson spent most of the year at Lansing. As a 22 year old, it's not terribly impressive to have a serviceable K rate there. He had just over 100 PAs last year in Dunedin with a serviceable K rate and just over 100 PAs in New Hampshire this year with a problematic one.

I wonder how his defence has developed. When I saw him in Lansing a few years ago, I was unimpressed with his instincts/routes to the ball.

uglyone - Thursday, August 01 2013 @ 05:33 PM EDT (#277412) #

I don't think anyone is saying that Wilson is a great prospect, but I do think there's been a notable jump up from useless to possibly legit (as he's been a legit above average bat in all 3 leagues he's played in the last 3 years and not too old an age and as a speed/defense CF) and I think it's been directly correlated to a big jump in contact rates. Could just be a fluke year, of course, but I think that was the difference last year at least.

18 (Rk/Rk): 192pa, 9.4bb%, 31.2k%, .210avg, .062iso
19 (RK/A): 402pa, 9.5bb%, 26.7k%, .211avg, .098iso
20 (A/A+): 494pa, 11.9bb%, 25.7k%, .205avg, .046iso
21 (A+/A+): 188pa, 8.5bb%, 27.7k%, .201avg, .073iso

22 (A/A+): 556pa, 10.4bb%, 17.5k%, .260avg, .098iso
23 (A+/AA): 123pa, 10.6bb%, 28.5k%, .306avg, .099iso

The only change in his profile last year was a big drop in Ks and a big jump in AVG. So far this year he's carried over the jump in AVG (along with an unsustainable babip), but is back to K-ing far too much, but it's a small sample. If he keeps K-ing like that, then yeah, he's back to being a dud. And you definitely could easily be right that last year's improvement was just a matter of an older prospect repeating a level enough times.

jerjapan - Thursday, August 01 2013 @ 06:28 PM EDT (#277421) #

Wilson has always had the tools, and you can't teach his speed. I'd wondered about protecting him on the 40 man last year and think he'd be at risk of being claimed this year if he hadn't missed so much time. Certainly he could fill an end of the bench pinch runner role if someone were to take a flier on him.

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