Skip to main content

What Marcus Stroman Really Brings to the Cubs

 


Give me all the hype. Because I'm seriously excited to see Stroman pitching for the CHICAGO CUBS this season. (Even though the lockout is happening, and the season will likely be delayed, etc, etc.) Anyway, I've already discussed his stats and what kind of pitcher and person he is, and all that good analytics stuff, but in order to be FULLY ready to see Stroman pitching this season you must watch this video.



Yes, the very first clip of this video is Stroman having a nasty strikeout versus the 2021 NL MVP...Bryce Harper. 

Pitchers are pitchers. They all have the same job: throw the ball to the catcher and try not to allow any runs. But the variety in pitchers is simply overwhelming...and I think Stroman is in his very own category.

Why? Because I can't really think of any active MLB pitcher that has quite the same physique, style, and athleticism. He became the Cubs' shortest current player at 5'8, but that doesn't stop him from being an extremely explosive pitcher. When I see the hand coming out of the glove to deliver the pitch, I see pure energy ready to face the batter. 

The movement of his body and pitches is pretty interesting. I see his whole body winding up and building up energy in preparation for the delivery of each pitch, which causes his pitches to be explosive, even though they aren't high-velo. His pitch grips are unique and the fact that he experiments and plays with them shows that you never know when he's going to have a new secret weapon.

His athleticism is also amazing, and I think he'd be a solid shortstop backup if the Cubs ever needed one :) That fitness will help keep him from being as injury-prone, and also is a big plus for infield defense.

Pitching Ninja did an interview with Stroman a while ago where he showed some of his grips and general stuff, so you can watch that too.





So, yeah. All that to say that you are now ready to watch Stroman pitch for the Cubs this season. Whenever that is.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Reliving the Cubs' 2016 Postseason Highlights

 As we enter the final stretch for baseball in 2021- a Braves/Astros World Series, it's a good time to look back at memorable Cubs' history in 2016, when the Cubs broke a 108 year WS win drought to beat the Indians in the World Series. The Cubs cruised to a 103-58 standing at the end of the season, getting the NL Central pennant and meaning they'd face the winner of the Wild Card, who ended up being the Giants. Game One of the NLDS Jon Lester threw 8 shut-out innings, Chapman closed the 9th with a shut-out against the Giants and Javier Baez solo-homered in the 8th to give the Cubs a 1-0 win against the Giants and get the 1-0 series lead. Game Two of the NLDS Kyle Hendricks started the game, only allowing 2 runs, and he drove in 2 runs himself in the 2nd with a single, but he left the game in the 3rd due to a line-drive injury. Reliever Travis Wood replaced Hendricks, and hit a home run, yes a home run in the 4th to give the Cubs a 5-2 lead. That was the first homer to be hi...

Articles Coming Again to Cubbies Gazette?

It's been awhile Cubs fans. I've been pretty active on Twitter, so if you haven't yet, give me a follow there. There's plenty of Cubs blogs out there, with my personal favorite being Bleacher Nation. So I don't intend to just repeat or say the same things others are saying, but I want to provide my thoughts on certain things that might differ or be new to Cubs fans.  Basically, I want to write brief articles on different Cubs related topics that might be new or original. This is just a hobby for me, so don't expect articles every single day. I'll also be sharing some thoughts of others from Twitter that I found interesting. If you're interested in writing for Cubbies Gazette, DM me on Twitter or email me at cubbiesgazette@gmail.com. Thanks for all of your support on Twitter, and as always, GO CUBS GO!

Evaluating the Cubs' Defense

  Just to start off, it was good to see the Braves beat the Dodgers, and even more satisfying seeing it was a walk-off hit by Austin Riley. Still hoping for a Red Sox/Braves World Series- it'd be a nice change of pace. Anyway, back to our topic for today: The Cubs' Defense. Overall ranking for defensive efficiency, the Cubs ranked no.20, just ahead of the Marlins and just behind the Twins, so certainly not good, but hey, the Cubs aren't number 30! Since a lot of fielding stats are confusing and probably won't mean much to you, I'm just going to highlight a few areas and explain them in everyday terms. 1. Shortstop and Second were a BIG Problem. A total of 41 errors of the teams' 87 errors were made at second or shortstop. That's almost half of the teams' errors at two positions! Javier Baez made an obnoxious total of 18 errors at shortstop before he left (strange for a guy who was a gold glove finalist in 2020), and Sergio Alcantara made 9 errors in his ...