TORONTO – The latest addition to Marcus Stroman’s repertoire isn’t a new pitch, but rather a new hitch, one in his pitching motion, designed to give the Toronto Blue Jays right-hander another element of surprise on the mound.
Starting from the stretch rather than the full windup, the 25-year-old can now confuse hitters with both what comes next, and when it’s coming. Stroman may take a step left with his front leg, hold there for a second, or two, or three, before continuing into his delivery. Or he might go right into the delivery, pausing midway through with his leg up briefly before throwing his pitch. Or he may zip through a truncated motion in order to release what’s known as a quick pitch.
Sometimes he may even use a regular, old, standard windup, too.
No matter which option he chooses, it’s another thing opponents in the batter’s box must now deal with when facing him.
"I’ve always wanted to do it, I just didn’t feel comfortable with it last year. I finally feel really comfortable with it. That’s why you’re seeing it," says Stroman, who makes his second start of the season Wednesday night against the Milwaukee Brewers. "A lot of hitters hit off timing, almost off a count, like a one, two, three count. So any time you can disrupt that timing it kind of throws hitters off."
The hitch worked to great effect for Stroman when he pitched for the United States in the World Baseball Classic. And it was similarly successful again during his strong debut against the Tampa Bay Rays last week, when he allowed a run on six hits and two walks with five strikeouts over 6.1 innings.
[relatedlinks]
Even Evan Longoria, who has more career hits against Stroman than anyone else with at nine in 24 at-bats, agrees there’s something to it.
"He’s coupling his already really good pitch repertoire with some trickery from the windup and it’s not easy," says the Rays third baseman. "It’s really hard to time up even without all the stuff he’s doing out there. We definitely had a hard time with him but I thought (last Thursday) was the best stuff-wise we’d seen him, too. He didn’t make too many mistakes, he pitched on the corners and his stuff was electric."
Praise like that underlines the potential gains for Stroman with the hitch. He experimented with some of the elements last year, but didn’t really have the confidence in the movements to employ them on a consistent basis.
Over the winter, he focused on building up his core and lower-body strength so he can hold the various moves without disrupting his arm motion. During spring training, he threw some live batting practice to Troy Tulowitzki and Jose Bautista, who provided him with positive feedback.
"They were all like, yeah, you need to do it," Stroman recalls. "Just from talking to hitters, being around hitters, watching everything they do, asking questions, asking if I hold here, what are you going to do in this situation, how are you going to react, are you going to reload, are you going to retap, are you going to put your leg down? I’m just trying to be better, trying to do everything in my power to get my guys weaker contact, to pitch ahead in the count and to really be able to throw off hitters’ timing."
Tulowitzki uses a toe-tap timing mechanism and like all hitters, he needs a clear sense of when the pitcher is starting his windup in order to get his front foot set. The way Stroman’s hitch kept him from locking in impressed him.
"Hitting is all about timing and you’re disrupting timing," says Tulowitzki. "The thing about Stro, people are going to say, why doesn’t everybody do that? Well, not everyone is capable of that, right? You have to be athletic, your body has to be capable of doing such movements, and to be honest with you, a high percentage are not capable of that. Stro happens to be one of those guys that’s athletic enough. On top of that, he puts a lot of work in so it suits him perfectly.
"There are going to be guys who try and it’s going to mess them up, as well. It’s not like it’s easy."
[snippet id=3305549]
Stroman’s performance for the United States during the Classic, when he started three games and was named tournament MVP, underlined his potential with the hitch. In conjunction with his sinker, his breaking balls and a still-developing changeup, he’s able to now create all sorts of issues for hitters.
"I finally found exactly how to do it over the WBC – where to put my foot, how to start – so I can quick pitch right from there, I can take a step back, I can hold," he explains. "I finally feel like I’m strong enough in my body where I can hold and still get my arm in position where it needs to go, still throw out of the same slot every single pitch. In the past, I used to try and quick pitch, arm would come under the ball, bad pitch, I’d try to hold, it would throw off my mechanics. Now I’m strong enough where I feel like I can do pretty much anything in my delivery."
The Brewers offer up the next test case. Longoria’s advice to them?
"You try to start yourself at the same time, whether he quick pitches or takes his time and goes high leg," he says. "When he starts, you want to start, so that’s the most difficult part – you don’t really know when he’s going to start, you don’t really know if he’s going to go slow or fast. I don’t know why more pitchers don’t do it."
