Chicago Cubs Season in Review: Marcus Stroman

As the Chicago Cubs' largest free agent signing since the 2017-18 offseason, it would have been fair to expect more from Marcus Stroman. Unlike nearly every other player who has joined the Cubs in the last several years, Stroman had a positive track record.

In 2021, he led Major League Baseball in starts with 33, throughout his career he'd been mostly healthy, making 32 starts or more four times in seven seasons. Though they weren't yet ready to compete with the top of the National League, Stroman was a signal to the rest of the National League Central, "Watch out! The Cubs are gaining on you."

Despite that, Stroman did not pitch as advertised to start the season, by the end of April his ERA was 6.98, and in mid-May, he suffered an injury that kept him off the roster for two and a half weeks.

Suddenly, it looked as if the season had turned around. Through his next three starts, Stroman allowed only four runs on 19.0 innings with 16 strikeouts to four walks, perhaps he had just been injured to start the year.

If anything his next start proved the theory, Stroman was injured, and it still lingered. Nine earned runs on four innings was his low point on the season and it saw him hit the injured list with right shoulder inflammation for over a month.

Thirty-five days later Stroman return in strength. Finally fully healthy, he served notice that, despite his age, he was still an ace. From July 9 through the season's end, Stroman pitched to a 2.56 ERA over 9.1 innings.

The pitcher who had looked so shaky, unable to make regular starts in the rotation at April and May never again missed a start. In both August and September/October, he started six games, polishing off a successful year with a 2.14 ERA over his final seven games.

Yet despite all the bluster with which he finished the year, advanced stats don't trend in Stroman's favor. His Baseball Savant page looks more a blueberry bush than an apple tree.

Besides his walk-rate, barrel% and fastball spin-rate, all of his metrics fall below the 50th percentile. Then again, advanced stats never did favor Stroman. His ERA has always fallen well below his xERA besides 2016 and 2018 in which he had a 4.37 and 5.54 ERA respectively.

It's a fact that some pitchers outperform their analytics, and Stroman is one of them. So if you're waiting for him to crumble in 2023, don't let the computer nerds get you down. Stroman is a good pitcher and he proved that in the second half.

Final Grade: B

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