Marcus Stroman had another strong outing for the New York Mets on Thursday at Clover Park. He threw five innings and gave up just two hits and one run on a wind-blown Kyle Schwarber solo home run in the second inning. The right-hander tossed 60 pitches and struck out six over the course of his outing against the Washington Nationals in Port St. Lucie.
With just two weeks until Opening Day and the start of the regular season, Stroman is looking strong and ready. Over the course of this spring, he’s pitched 13 1/3 innings, giving up just four earned runs on nine hits and two walks, along with 14 strikeouts, leading to a 2.70 ERA.
The hurler said he felt great during his latest tuneup, “I put a lot of work in the offseason, so my body, my arm feel great.” Turning lineups over and facing hitters multiple times is one of his main goals right now as he makes final adjustments for the approaching season.
Stroman also spoke on Carlos Carrasco’s injury, calling it “devastating”. He spoke on how hard Carrasco works, saying he wants him in the rotation and that the Mets need him to be elite. In his eyes, the biggest thing is getting him healthy, and he hopes Carrasco can come back earlier than expected.
Stroman also praised the Mets’ rotation, saying they have depth and if there’s any rotation that can handle being down a man, it’s New York. Still, he hopes the rotation won’t be without one of its main cogs for very long.
The Mets announced Thursday that there will be 20 percent attendance capacity at games in New York this season, which excites Stroman. “We need that. That New York tenacity, that New York crowd brings a different vibe to the ballpark. We feed off of that energy.”
It’s exciting for everyone to get fans back at the ballpark safely, and it’s clear Stroman feels this will give the Mets an advantage.
