Scoreless Stroman strikes again for Cubs

CHICAGO -- When the Cubs signed Marcus Stroman to a 3-year, $71 million deal before the 2022 season, they envisioned adding a top-tier pitcher to their roster. In his first two starts this year, Stroman is pitching like the ace Chicago hoped he'd be.

He delivered six scoreless innings in his 200th career start to help the Cubs beat the Rangers, 2-0, on Friday afternoon at Wrigley Field.

“It feels good,” Stroman said. “I’m a worker, so I’m always working in the offseason. It’s kind of a testament to everything that goes into it.”

After facing the Brewers on Opening Day and throwing six strong innings, Stroman followed that up by allowing just two hits and three walks while striking out six on Friday.

The right-hander has now opened the season with two consecutive starts of six scoreless innings. He’s just the fourth Cubs pitcher to toss at least six innings and allow zero runs in his first two starts of a season, joining Mike Bielecki (1991), Bill C. Lee (1934) and Mike Prendergast (1916), per Elias Sports Bureau.

“He’s been great for us,” manager David Ross said. “Every time he steps on, you feel you got a chance to win. That’s why you get those types of guys, give them the Opening Day start and get them back around as much as possible.”

The veteran was able to get weak contact on the ground against Texas, and having players like Nico Hoerner and Dansby Swanson up the middle helped, as well.

Hoerner and Swanson turned a nice double play in the third inning on Friday, and their presence behind Stroman will help prevent a lot of runs for the Cubs this season.

“Huge, I can’t put that into words, honestly,” Stroman said. “Nico was an incredible shortstop last year, now having him over at second with that same ability to go get balls in that range, and then bringing in Dansby, who’s one of the best shortstops in the league, that just gives me more confidence.”

Stroman’s outing on Friday was dynamic, despite running into trouble in his final inning. In the sixth, he hit Josh Smith and walked two to load the bases. But after a visit from pitching coach Tommy Hottovy, Stroman escaped with no damage.

“Just giving him a breath, let him reset,” Ross said of the mound visit. “He was close to 90 pitches, just get him back focused.”

Stroman struggled to begin the year last season, allowing 13 earned runs in his first three games. But he’s off to an electric start in 2023, and credits the World Baseball Classic as a reason for that.

“My year in 2017 when I played in that WBC, I felt like I had one of the best starts to my season,” Stroman said. “It puts you in that competitive mind frame and gets you going much earlier than Spring Training. Playing super competitive, playoff-level-atmosphere baseball in March is extremely fun, but not only fun, it makes you get ready for the start of the season.”

Stroman allowed three runs across nine innings for Puerto Rico in this year's WBC, and his stuff is moving much more because of it.

“He’s been really good,” said Cody Bellinger, who also logged an RBI in the game. “His ball moves so much, I can see it from center field. I have a pretty cool view out there to see how much his ball is moving, and he’s definitely not scared of the big moment.”

The right-hander is feeling sharp to the start season, and his success dates back to late last year. Since August 30, Stroman has a 1.67 ERA in nine starts and has allowed one or fewer runs in seven of those games.

“Both starts that Marcus has thrown have been unbelievable,” Michael Fulmer said. “He loves pitching in front of this crowd, and rightfully so.”

Stroman has been an ace for Chicago since late last season and, if he continues to pitch like that, the Cubs’ rotation will be in a much better spot this year.

“I already had a lot of confidence with my sinker to begin with, and I truly feel like if I get my sinker to where I can get it in the zone, that it’s going to be an out [the] majority of the time,” Stroman said. “If you give me more confidence, that’s a scary sight.”