Marcus Stroman heard the haters before Yankees vs. Giants and shut up literally nobody

Marcus Stroman is on a mission this season. The New York Yankees right-hander, after posting a 5.98 ERA in the second half of 2024, was ostensibly squeezed out of the starting rotation by the acquisition of Max Fried. But he's a starting pitcher. He reported that emphatically at camp. And he was going to do something about it.

And, somewhat predictably, the pieces started to fall into place to facilitate his ascent back into the rotation. Gerrit Cole went down. Luis Gil got hurt. Suddenly, the Yankees needed him. And look who came crawling back!

Stroman would heed the call. He would rise from the depths. He would prove his doubters wrong. He would show everyone who considered him a spare part and a tradeable piece that he had what it took to deliver the Yankees to the World Series.

And Friday night's game against the 9-3 San Francisco Giants was a great battle ground. A chance to show his mettle. A chance to stand on the mountaintop and decree, in his loudest voice, that he would NOT be banished to the bullpe -- oh, wait, it's 3-0 already.

Yankees' Marcus Stroman potentially blows entire series vs. Giants (if the game doesn't get rained out)

Perhaps Stroman was defiantly pursuing ... some kind of side quest? A quest where he attempts to make the game's early innings last as long as possible so that the sopping wet Yankees can't get through the full five frames to make this loss an official game?

Either way, Friday's start made exactly the opposite point from the one Stroman intended. Allan Winans could've done this. Any Triple-A depth piece could've done this. Stroman walked three, allowed a three-run Jung Hoo Lee home run before recording an out, and left the game down 5-0 with runners on and two outs in the first. This is the Yankees' first game of 13 in 13 consecutive days. Taxing the bullpen tonight was a particularly terrible idea.

And now, officially, the lowest ERA in the Yankees' rotation besides Fried is Carlos Rodón's 5.19 mark. Gee. It's almost like folks who complained about the season ostensibly being over when 60% of the rotation went down in March had a point.

Anyhow, on the bright side, Stroman may have found the only team in the league he can still reasonably claim to be a viable starter for. Bring on the rain.