Getty

Aaron Boone smirking

A few months ago, it seemed likely that the New York Yankees would move on from Marcus Stroman. Unfortunately, the Yankees have dealt with multiple injuries, and as a result, Stroman has to be in their plans moving forward.

It isn’t the worst thing, given Stroman is still a decent arm at the big league level, but the injuries they’ve dealt with are unfortunate, and something no team ever wants to deal with.

In his first outing of the season, the right-hander tossed 4 2/3 innings and allowed three earned runs, striking out three and walking one. His stuff wasn’t great, but for the first outing of the year, there wasn’t much to complain about.

Despite the injuries the Yankees are facing on the mound, some still believe that Stroman will be the odd man out when they make the moves they must make. Of course, this would mean that the Yankees have to make a trade for a few starters, but it’s possible that Stroman could eventually be on his way out if they find a replacement.

Some expect that.

In a recent prediction from Rucker Haringey of FanSided, he had the Yankees moving on from the former All-Star.

“Marcus Stroman experienced a terrific reversal of fortune in spring training for the Yankees. He started the preseason as a prime name on the team’s trade block and headed into Opening Day as the No. 3 starting pitcher in Boone’s rotation.

“Much of Stroman’s good fortune is a result of injuries to his peers. Gerrit Cole’s Tommy John surgery created one more opening in the rotation. Luis Gil also went down, leaving New York short of two pitchers they believed would anchor the group,” Haringey wrote.

Stroman Speaks on His Outing

Injuries are part of the game, and there’s nothing Stroman can do about it. All he can do right now is take advantage of the opportunity and prove to other teams around the league that if the New York Yankees trade him, he should be wanted.

He spoke about his first outing of the year, adding that he felt decent, but admitted that he made some bad pitches and is ready to get back on the bump to continue throwing the baseball at the level he knows he can.

“I thought I threw the ball pretty well,” Stroman said, according to Greg Joyce of the New York Post. “Made a few bad pitches, but overall for the first one, thought it was OK. Definitely need to be better going forward, but to keep this offense in the game is definitely key. To limit the team to three runs or less over five, I feel like we’re going to be able to score and do what we need to do over the course of the game.”

Will Stroman Get Traded?

It seems fair to say that if the New York Yankees could move on from Stroman, that’s what they’d do. However, until a trade is here, they’ll need to rely on him to get outs. Even if it’s for a few months, Stroman has the ability to be helpful for the Yankees.

Things could change if Stroman throws the baseball at a decent level, but with his contract situation, the Yankees could look to move on from him no matter how well he pitches, despite the injuries.

Jon Conahan covers the NBA and NFL for Heavy.com. Since 2019, his sports coverage has appeared at Sports Illustrated, oddschecker, ClutchPoints and Sportskeeda. More about Jon Conahan