Marcus Stroman, like many others, started playing baseball while in high school. However, he would turn down a Major League Baseball team in the 2009 draft to go to college. At Duke University, he played mostly shortstop and second base. He also holds the record for most strikeouts of any player on the Duke Bue Devils baseball team.
Stroman eventually signed for the Toronto Blue Jays in the 2012 MLB Draft. After a few seasons on lower level teams, he made his major league debut for the Blue Jays in 2014. In 2017, the pitcher had the best season of his career, winning the Golden Glove Award.
Biography of Marcus Stroman, career
He was born Marcus Earl Stroman in Medford, New York on May 1, 1991. He was raised in Medford, where he attended Patchogue-Medford High School. The Washington Nationals of Major League Baseball came knocking on the door in 2009 when they selected Marcus in the 18th round of the draft. However, the baseball enthusiast wanted to continue his education at Duke University. So he turned down this opportunity.
While at Duke, Stroman made a total of 97 appearances for the University Blue Devils. Even though most of them ended up in second base and shortstop positions, he still managed to get 290 strikeouts over 222 innings, the most of any Duke player. . Marcus Stroman graduated from Duke on May 15, 2016.
In 2012, he was the 22nd overall pick in the MLB Draft, making him the first Duke University player to be selected in the first round of the MLB Draft. Stroman signed for the Toronto Blue Jays and began his professional career with the Low-A Vancouver Canadians. He was then transferred to the New Hampshire Fisher Cats by his parent team in August 2012. Towards the end of the month, he was heavily suspended for testing positive for methylhexanamine.
He eventually shot for New Hampshire beginning May 19, 2013. After spring training camp with the Blue Jays, Marcus Stroman was the starting pitcher on opening day for the triple-A ranked Buffalo Bisons.
After making his debut for Toronto on his call-up on his return, he was given an option on May 18 and called up on May 30 to make his league debut. Just over a week later, he beat the Detroit Tigers 3-2 in nine career innings. His first full game came with an 8-0 win over the Chicago Cubs.
He was suspended and fined Sept. 6 for brawling with Baltimore’s Caleb Joseph. Stroman finished 2014 with an 11-6 record, 111 strikeouts and a 3.65 scoring average.
During spring training ahead of the 2015 season, Marcus suffered an injury, tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. It was during his rehabilitation period that he returned to Duke University to complete his education. In 2016, he would obtain a bachelor’s degree in sociology.
He returned on September 2, 2015 with the Class A Lugnuts Marcus Stroman returned to the Blue Jays as a starting pitcher in the game against the New York Yankees on September 12, 2015, finishing the year with a 4-0 record, a record 1.67 and a total of 18 strikeouts over 27 innings.
The Blue Jays pitcher started on the opening day of the 2016 season against the Tampa Bay Rays in a 5-3 win. Again on May 1 in a game against Tampa, Marcus recorded 9 strikeouts, the most strikeouts of any Blue Jays pitch on their birthday. Three months later, he struck out 13 batters in a game against the Houston Astros, finishing the 2016 season with a 9-10 record and a 4.37 clock. By the end of the campaign, Marcus had also scored 204 goals in two innings, collecting 166 strikeouts.
Kicking off his career in 2017 with an improved salary, he scored the first hit of his career in a 6-5 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on April 25, 2017. He continued to put up impressive performances during games against Braves like the Atlantas. Marcus Stroman was forced out of the Sept. 2 game against the Baltimore Orioles after being hit in the elbow by a line attack. Toronto would win the game 7-2 in his absence.
The 2017 season saw Stroman claim 13 wins, and pitch 201 innings. That makes him the seventh Blue Jays pitcher to hit two consecutive 200-inning seasons in the past 20 years. He also recorded a 3.09 EAR and 164 strikeouts. His campaign efforts were enough to see him beat Chris Sale and Alex Cobb for the Golden Glove Award. He also received the Blue Jays Pitcher of the Year award from the Baseball Writers Association of the United States.
In 2017, Marcus represented the United States at the 2017 World Baseball Classic, making 3 starts. In the final game against Puerto Rico, Stroman led the United States to an 8-0 win and their first baseball world championship title. His name was also part of the All World World Baseball Classic team.
Marcus Stroman’s family: dad, mom, siblings
Marcus Stroman was born to a Puerto Rican mother and an American father, making him eligible to represent both countries at the World Baseball Classic. His father, Earl Stroman, is a detective in New York. Marcus’ parents, Earl and Adlin Auffant, ended their marriage when he was in fifth grade.
He has two siblings, a brother Jayden and a sister, Sabria.
Marcus Stroman’s Salary and Net Worth
On February 14, 2017, Marcus Stroman won his arbitration case, increasing his salary to $3.4 million. Although he lost the lawsuit in 2018, his salary was still increased to $6.5 million.
The athlete also has lucrative contracts with such giants as Nike, Jordan Brand, New Era, Bio Steel and others. These deals were made after the completion of the process of marketing the brands “Height Does Not Measure the Heart” and “HDMH”, due to his relatively short stature in January 2015. Various sources peg his net worth at 6 million dollars.
Marcus Stroman’s height, weight and body
Stroman is listed by MLB as being 5 feet 8 inches tall, placing him in the elite group of only seven pitchers in Major League Baseball who are shorter than 5 feet 10 inches. According to Marcus himself, he stands at 5 feet 7.25 inches.
The pitcher also maintains a respectable weight of 82 kg (180.8 lb). Nothing else is known about his other body measurements.