Marcus Stroman has never lacked for self-confidence. That's not a bad thing: It's how an undersized pitcher from a cold-weather state manages to turn himself into a top prospect and build a long, successful career in the Major Leagues. And it's also part of the reason why the New York Yankees signed him to a three-year contract last winter, hoping he would provide a shot in the arm to a rotation in desperate need of it.
Of course, things didn't quite work out that way: Stroman faded badly in his first year in the Bronx, pitching to a 5.98 ERA in the second half and becoming an afterthought on the team's postseason rosters. His contract quickly went underwater, and the team wasted no time signaling that it wanted to move on, signing lefty Max Fried to an eight-year deal that bumped Stroman down to No. 6 in the team's pecking order.
The Yankees spent the last half of their offseason trying to find a trade partner for Stroman, to no avail. But while he's still in pinstripes to start spring training, to literally everyone around him the message was clear: Stroman was not going to be a member of New York's starting rotation. Unfortunately, that legendary confidence also comes with some drawbacks.
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Marcus Stroman has blocked out the haters a little bit too much, it seems
While it might be obvious to fans and media members that the Yankees don't envision Stroman taking the ball on a regular basis once the regular season rolls around, he's showed up to camp like nothing has changed. Scoffing at the very notion that he might get shifted to the bullpen was bad enough, but his most recent media appearance is on another planet entirely.
“Competing?" Stroman replied, when asked by Bob Klapisch of NJ.com whether he felt like he was competing for a roster spot this spring. "I don’t think I’m competing … at all. No."
Again: To everyone else, that's very clearly what's happening; unless Stroman can use the next few weeks to prove to New York brass that he's improved on what they saw last season, he won't be in the team's plans. To Stroman, however, nothing has changed: He's Marcus Stroman, and Marcus Stroman starts every fifth day.
“Results don’t matter because I’m trying to throw 200 innings, so this is a building point," Stroman said. "These games and these numbers don’t matter. I’m going to be someone who goes out there and hopefully can give you 30-plus starts.”
At a certain point, you have to admire the sheer chutzpah of it; athletes don't get to the highest levels of their sport by not thinking that they're the very best every time they take the field. But it'll be fascinating to watch what happens when the unstoppable force that is Stroman's self-regard meets the immovable object that is the reality of the Yankees depth chart.