The Yankees are planning to activate right-hander Marcus Stroman to start Sunday’s game against the Athletics, as manager Aaron Boone told reporters (including Larry Fleisher of the Associated Press) last night. Stroman has been on the 15-day injured list since mid-April due to a knee injury. As Stroman has remained on the 40-man roster and right-hander Allan Winans was optioned to Triple-A following the club’s game this afternoon, no additional corresponding moves will be necessary to activate Stroman tomorrow.
Stroman, 34, signed with the Yankees on a two-year guarantee that came with a third year vesting option prior to the 2024 campaign. Coming off a three-year run with the Mets and Cubs where he pitched to a 3.45 ERA (120 ERA+) with a 3.60 FIP and earned the second All-Star appearance of his career, Stroman seemed like a solid mid-rotation veteran addition for the Bronx Bombers when he signed for $37MM guaranteed. Unfortunately, his work last year wound up being fairly pedestrian. His 154 2/3 innings of work was good for his highest figure since 2021, but he surrendered a pedestrian 4.31 ERA (95 ERA+) and paired it with lackluster peripherals. He struck out a career-low 16.7% of his opponents, an 8.9% walk rate nearly matched his career high, and he generated ground balls at a clip below 50% (49.2%) for the first time in his career.
All those red flags led the Yankees to try and shed Stroman’s salary this offseason, but they quickly found themselves unable to do so. That led to the possibility of Stroman starting the season in the club’s bullpen after they signed Max Fried earlier in the winter, something Stroman seemed to push back against upon arriving in camp for Spring Training. Injuries to Luis Gil and Gerrit Cole quickly opened a path to a rotation job for the veteran, but he struggled badly in three starts with 12 runs allowed in 9 1/3 innings prior to his placement on the shelf. Now ten weeks removed from his last big league action, Stroman is ticketed for another shot at a rotation job in New York.
It’s unclear how long Stroman will have the opportunity to keep making starts. Cole will miss the entire 2025 season and as such won’t be a consideration, but both Gil and Ryan Yarbrough are expected back from the injured list this year and could be ahead of Stroman on the rotation totem pole unless he manages to turn his season around. What’s more, the trade deadline is just over a month away and it wouldn’t be a shock to see the Yankees look to make an addition to their starting staff after they’ve dealt with so many injuries in the rotation all throughout the season. That could make Stroman’s first few starts off the injured list crucial if he wants to remain a starter, although he has seemed more open to a role change in the months since he declared himself a starter back in February.
Making room for Stroman on the active roster figures to be Winans, who surrendered three runs (two earned) on three hits and two walks while striking out two in today’s 7-0 loss to the Athletics. It was his second outing of the year for the big league Yankees after allowing four runs in 4 1/3 innings of work during a start earlier this week. He’s now set to head back to Triple-A, where he had been dominating to the tune of a 0.90 ERA in 50 frames. Winans figures to be leaned on again in the future if the Yankees are in need of a spot starter or long relief option out of the bullpen.