Stroman loves living in moment on Snapchat

DUNEDIN, Fla. -- Major League Baseball is going to pull back the curtains on Friday with all 30 teams scheduled to publish Snapchat stories with photos and videos that will give fans a behind-the-scenes look at Spring Training. Count Marcus Stroman among those who can't wait to participate.
Stroman is one of the most active users of social media in the big leagues. He has a loyal following on Snapchat, Instagram and Twitter and sees it as an opportunity to provide some insight on his daily life and what it's like to be a professional baseball player.
Friday is MLB Snapchat Day
Each social media platform has its own target audience, and Stroman prides himself on using it to provide fans with a unique experience. He also likes to use it for his own entertainment by following a wide variety of celebrities and friends.
"I use it to talk to fans, they get to see what you're doing in the moment," Stroman said. "So it's really cool to show them the day to day. I'll snap in the clubhouse when I'm around the guys or when we go out into the field. It's cool for the fans to be able to see the day to day that we go through.
"I try to talk to people on there, try to just be as cool as possible. [Snapchat] is basically an extension of my Twitter and Instagram, but it's different than those two in the sense that you can get that 'what's he doing' in the moment, which is pretty cool. I follow a bunch of celebs on there, it's cool to see what they do in their day-to-day [life]."
Major League Baseball will allow all of its players to use Snapchat during Friday's Spring Training games. With the laid-back atmosphere of Spring Training, it's the perfect time to provide fans with a unique look at what goes on behind the scenes.
Some players will be using their smartphones in the dugout as the games are going on and they'll also test out the official SnapBat, which made its debut during last year's All-Star weekend. Instead of fans being limited to watching games from the stands, or televisions, this will be a chance to get a look inside the dugout with interactions that are often off limits.
"[On] Twitter you can say whatever, or post a pic from two, three weeks back on Instagram, Snapchat is what that person is doing in that moment," Stroman explained. "You can't have a picture from two weeks ago, it has to be live stuff, so it's pretty cool to see what the guys are doing on the day to day."
There are pros and cons that come with players being as active as Stroman is on social media. He has to shut out all of the negative comments that inevitably come with that kind of exposure and instead focuses on all of the positives that come with it.
"I take pride in it because, honestly, I built my brand from the very beginning, going back to my time at Duke," Stroman said. "I can't tell you how many people told me to stop Twitter, stop Instagram, stop all social media accounts. I was advised more not to have it than I was to have it.
"It's something that I stay true to, that I enjoy, that I like doing, and it's paying off. I love it, the fans love it, it's really cool interacting with them. I enjoy it because it's a getaway for me away from the field, allows me to get my mind away from baseball and just be a normal person."