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Marcus Stroman drills a home run to right field vs Braves (Video)

By David Rouben

Apr 6, 2017; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Marcus Stroman (6) throws a pitch during the second inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 6, 2017; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Marcus Stroman (6) throws a pitch during the second inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports /
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Marcus Stroman added to a Toronto Blue Jays blowout by hitting his first ever major league home run off of Julio Teheran.

The interleague series between the Toronto Blue Jays and Atlanta Braves has been extremely eventful, but now it has added a new argument to the DH debate.

Julio Teheran was in the midst of one of his worst outings of the season, having already given up home runs to star players like Darrell Ceciliani and Luke Maile. But right after that Maile home run, Marcus Stroman crushed a solo home run to make it 8-0.

It’s his first ever major league home run, and his teammates could hardly believe it. Everyone in the dugout was going crazy, while Josh Donaldson tweeted out an appropriate reaction. That’s the one good thing about him still being sidelined:

Stroman’s home run wasn’t as good as Bartolo Colon’s — nothing will ever be — but anyone who says they weren’t entertained by it is lying. And after a series that has seen some ugly antics, it was nice to see something light-hearted, for a change. NL fans love it more than anyone else, as they have yet another reason to commend the idea of pitchers hitting in the lineup instead of a DH. After all, chicks dig the long ball, especially if it’s hit by a pitcher.

Stroman’s home run might have had less meaning if he had a bad outing. But he’s thrown three shutout innings, four strikeouts, and has gotten plenty of run support. This home run is just the cherry on top of a performance he and his teammates will be talking about for years to come.

Next: Best Starting Pitchers in MLB History

According to ESPN, this is only the second home run hit by a Blue Jays pitcher in franchise history. The first came from Mark Hendrickson in 2003. But despite the slow start to the season, the Blue Jays are much better than that 2003 team as they still contain a large part of the core that has been to the ALCS two years in a row. And after dropping the first three games of the series, this was a much needed bounce back performance for the Jays.

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