If Marcus Stroman was in the exact same situation that he was in before today’s game, except that the timeline was in the 70’s, I’m sure it would have been ingrained in him that “hey, the bullpen is gassed, I gotta go long today.”
Maybe he did that today, but with today’s emphasis on using process to get results rather than using desired results to set your process, I’m not sure. I’d love to know if that still occurs, because Stroman going eight one-hit innings against the Reds on Wednesday afternoon after three straight bullpen games (intentional and unintentional) was and will be a huge boost to this team.
After hitting Jonathan India to start the game, Stroman was brilliant for his eight innings, and just seemed to do what he does. Stroman always has such good control that his problems seem to stem from just being a hair off. And when he’s a hair off, he’s very hittable. But today, no such luck for the Reds. That makes me think that this wasn’t some consciously heroic effort from jump, but rather just a return to basics and just getting his control back. So was it using process to acheive result? Or was it using desired result to adjust process? I’d say the former, but once he got deep into the game (only at 81 pitches through seven) I think that’s when he understood that he was in such a groove that he could give evne more length than expected (and quality length too), which he did in a much needed 7-0 victory which saved the bullpen some gas for the weekend series against the Blue Jays.
To those of you reading this saying “bruh, who cares, we won”, I understand, and I also remember my first beer. Whichever way his thought process went, he was enormous today, and deserves a ton of credit for coming up with it on the day where the Mets needed it more than any other day this season.
What made it easier was Dom Smith’s grand slam in the 3rd which made it 5-0, giving Stroman the breathing room he needed. All credit due to Dom, and all credit due to Ron Darling who noted that whenever a pitching coach comes out to the mound, which Derek Johnson had just done to talk to Jeff Hoffman, that the advice is usually “be aggressive, and throw strikes”, so Dom had better be ready on the first pitch. He got a curve down and away, but in the strike zone, and he put a great swing on it for a Great American Ballpark grand slam. So great job by Dom and Ronnie. Who needs Tony Romo, right?
(Editor’s note: Shame on Todd Zeile for trying to steal Ron’s thunder post game and say “hey, I called it too!” I mean, I believe you. But don’t steal Ronnie’s thunder!)
Smith’s grannie was the creamy filling between Jonathan Villar’s 2nd inning home run which broke a guy’s cell phone, and Luis Guillorme’s 5th inning two run HR which ended the scoring for the day. In addition to the bullpen needing some rest, I think the rest of us just needed a stress free game. It’s a long season, and we all forgot to pace ourselves for a bit. Wednesday’s win was a nice respite for all our blood pressures.
Today’s Hate List
- I have no hate today for anyone in Cincinnati
- Not even Skyline Chili
- Nor could I hate anybody in Canada
- As Toronto is our next opponent.
- Soooooo … Rhys Hoskins? Yeah. Rhys Hoskins.
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