It’s clear Marcus Stroman won’t be getting much sympathy from Yankees fans anytime soon.
After a disastrous outing Friday night in which he gave up five earned runs and walked three batters before being pulled in the first inning of a 9-1 rain-shortened loss to the Giants, Stroman was loudly booed off the field by the Yankee Stadium crowd. His early-season struggles have been glaring, with 12 earned runs allowed in just 9.2 innings — but it may be more than just control issues plaguing him now.
News of a possible knee injury didn’t exactly spark concern among the fanbase. In fact, many seemed to welcome the idea of Stroman missing time.
One user on X (formerly Twitter) wrote, “Here’s hoping it’s serious.” Another sarcastically asked, “His knee, or was it his [expletive], to see if he can handle sitting on the bench for the rest of the season?”
Stroman has already been a polarizing figure among fans. He rubbed many the wrong way after a brief spring training holdout and a vocal refusal to accept a bullpen role. Injuries to key starters like Gerrit Cole and Luis Gil opened a spot in the rotation for him, but his performance hasn’t come close to justifying it.
Since joining the Yankees, Stroman has gone 10-10 with a 4.72 ERA across 164 innings. Manager Aaron Boone demoted him to the bullpen late last season, and he didn’t appear in the postseason — a decision that’s starting to look more and more justified.
The latest reaction? Many fans want the Yankees to stash Stroman on the 60-day IL and move on.
One post read, “The best thing for the Yankees is if Stroman can’t continue.”
Another added, “He refuses to go to the bullpen and always has an excuse when he pitches poorly.”
Some weren’t subtle at all: “Just pretend he doesn’t exist.”
Whether the knee injury sidelines Stroman or not, public opinion in the Bronx seems firmly set: they’ve seen enough.
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