Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Marcus Stroman Struggled Again, But Aaron Boone Isn’t Losing All Hope

"I think the movement qualities are there"

Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Marcus Stroman’s struggles continued on Friday night, as he exited the game in the first inning after allowing five runs in a lackluster performance against the San Francisco Giants. His early departure, coupled with a chorus of boos from the Yankee Stadium crowd, was evocative of the growing concerns surrounding the Yankees’ pitching staff.

Doesn't get much worse pic.twitter.com/yVyPnGimeF
— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) April 11, 2025

While Max Fried has been the lone bright spot in the rotation with a 1.56 ERA through three starts, the rest of the Yankees’ rotation has been underwhelming. Stroman’s 46-pitch outing, which saw him surrender five runs and record only two outs, was a major setback in the Yankees’ 9-1 loss, a game shortened by rain.

ALSO READ: Marcus Stroman Can’t Escape First in Disastrous Outing, Sent for X-Rays

After the game, manager Aaron Boone shared that Stroman reported discomfort in his left knee following his early exit. X-rays were taken at Yankee Stadium, and Stroman was sent to a local hospital for additional testing. While an injury might explain his struggles, Boone remains hopeful about Stroman’s potential.

“I do, because I think the movement qualities are there,” Boone said after the game. “Again, it’s less margin for error, and there’s probably some adjustments we can all make with him that hopefully allow him to go out there and be effective because the stuff’s not much different than the first half of last season to the second half to now. We got to execute a little better.”

"We've got to do better"

Aaron Boone talks about how he feels about the Yankees' starting rotation 13 games into the season: pic.twitter.com/zWsNz3BReV
— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) April 12, 2025

What adds to Stroman’s struggles is that the entire Yankees rotation, after removing Max Fried, has been overwhelmingly disappointing. Opening Day starter Carlos Rodón has posted a 5.19 ERA over 17 1/3 innings, while Carlos Carrasco and Will Warren have struggled as well, with ERAs of 7.71 and 6.00, respectively.

“We’ve got to do better,” Boone acknowledged. “We’re coming off a great start [Wednesday] with Max, but we’ve struggled to this point. We’re 13 games in, but we’ve got to, night in and night out, pitch a little bit better to put us in a good situation.”

ALSO READ: With Clarke Schmidt Set to Return, Who Gets Squeezed Out of the Yankees’ Rotation?

Boone also pointed to the impending return of Clarke Schmidt as a possible solution. “Clarke is going to join, and that should help things,” Boone said. “We’ve got very capable people, but we’ve got to get a little more.”

Aaron Boone

Marcus Stroman

Yankees

Mohsin Baldiwala

mlb

Mohsin Baldiwala is a Master’s student in Journalism and freelance content producer who got hooked on baseball through Seinfeld’s hapless George Costanza. The same reason why he’s a Yankees fan. He writes about sports because he believes it can offer a brief escape from the world’s chaos. Even if that means enduring the heartbreak of the 2024 World Series.