It is no secret that the Washington Nationals and Mike Rizzo value starting pitching, and the Nationals are in need of a starting pitcher to add to their starting rotation, so why not kick the tires of the veteran right-hander Marcus Stroman?

Let’s take a deeper look.

• Position: Starting Pitcher
• Bats/Throws: R/R
• Age: 05/01/91 (32)
• Traditional Stats: 27 G, 10-9, 3.95 ERA, 1.259 WHIP, 136 2/3 IP, 119 K
• Advanced Stats: 2.7 fWAR, 3.58 FIP, 4.18 xERA, 9.0 BB%, 20.7 K%

Background

Right-handed pitcher Marcus Stroman was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the first round of the 2012 MLB Draft out of Duke University. Stroman would quickly navigate through the Blue Jays farm system before making his MLB debut in 2014.

Stroman made an immediate impact in his rookie campaign, starting 20 games with 11 wins and a 3.65 ERA with the Blue Jays. His advanced metrics show that this was no fluke, as he accumulated a 2.84 FIP and 3.4 fWAR.

His path to success was promptly interrupted by a torn ACL that required surgery, which curtailed most of his 2015 season. However, in only four starts, he pitched to a 1.67 ERA in 27 innings.

During his six years with the Blue Jays, Stroman would have 129 game starts in 135 games and pitched 789.2 innings. He finished his time with the Blue Jays with an ERA of 3.76 and a win-loss percentage of .511. After his six years with the Blue Jays, Stroman signed with the New York Mets and played with the Mets for two years, where his ERA and win-loss percentage both dipped a bit; however, he was still able to appear in 44 games and pitched an impressive 238.2 innings.

After an impressive season in 2021 with the New York Mets, Stroman entered the free agent market and picked up a three-year deal with the Chicago Cubs worth $71 million. In his first season with the Chicago Cubs, Stroman would pick up where he left off with the Mets. In his first season with the Cubs, he started in 25 games and ended the season posting a 3.50 ERA in 138 2/3 innings with 119 strikeouts and only gave up 36 walks and 16 home runs and ended with a 6-7 win-loss record.

His last stint just ended with the Chicago Cubs, where over the past two years, his ERA and win-loss percentages both improved. Additionally, Stroman was able to appear in six more games over his time with the Cubs 50 games and appeared in 275.1 innings.

The bottom line, Stroman has become a consistent player and can successfully eat up innings. Plus, his win-loss records are really impressive.

Stroman’s most used pitch includes his sinker, which, according to stats, he used 46.4 percent of the time in 2023. This is the pitch that has generated a lot of ground balls for Stroman during his career, which is always a plus for any successful pitcher.

Additionally, Stroman also features a slurve that had a tremendous whiff rate of 30.6 percent in 2023. His combination of strikeouts and ground balls has made his skillset unique among the array of starting pitchers around the league.

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Editors Note: This is the latest in my player profile series that I have started here at the Nats Report. Check out other of my prospect player profiles: Dylan Crews Jackson Rutledge Robert Hassell III James Wood Drew Millas

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What about the money?

MLB Trade Rumors estimates that Stroman will receive a two-year deal worth $44 million, citing Nathan Eovaldi‘s similar two-year $34 million contract he signed with the Texas Rangers as the floor for what Stroman would get. They claim that he could potentially earn a three-year deal, depending on the demand for starting pitchers this offseason.

Should the Nationals sign Stroman?

Yes, the Nationals are in need of both a veteran presence in the starting rotation and a pitcher who can be successful and eat up innings. If the Nationals could negotiate a deal with the veteran right-hander, he could be a nice fit for the team.

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