TAMPA, Fla. — The New York Yankees have had a noticeable absence through the first two days of workouts. Veteran starting pitcher Marcus Stroman showed up to Yankees camp on report day Tuesday to take his physical but has not appeared on the field for the team’s first two days of pitcher and catcher workouts.
Stroman’s locker in the Yankees’ clubhouse was untouched Thursday morning. The only items visible in it were his spring training uniform, workout gear, and three packs of Orbit gum. Unlike the other pitchers and catchers in camp, Stroman’s gloves were also not on display.
As to where Stroman might be, Yankees pitching coach Matt Blake didn’t have much to offer.
“He’s in Tampa,” Blake said. “He’s around.”
The Yankees have tried trading Stroman, who’s owed $18.33 million this season, this offseason to no avail. If Stroman remains on the roster, he would enter the regular season as the team’s sixth starter. Stroman has a vesting option for 2026 that requires him to pitch 140 innings in 2025. If he does not reach that mark, Stroman becomes a free agent at the end of the year.
“The situation is what it is,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said on Tuesday. “We have a lot of guys that you would expect to be starting pitchers in the big leagues, Marcus being one of those. I saw him. I had a good conversation with him. I feel like he’s in a good mental place. He’s physically ready to go.
“The bottom line is we’re getting him ready to pitch and those things have a way of working themselves out, especially as we sit here again in the middle of February.”
Stroman scrubbed all of his social media content related to his time with the Yankees, but Boone said that’s a normal thing the pitcher does every offseason to reset.
(Top photo of Stroman: Daniel Shirey/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
