I can’t even blame Mearns for adding to my streak of untelevised spring games, given that I had to swap with a fellow staff member to make my schedule fit this week. There wasn’t much to see from Lakeland anyway, as the Tigers ran all over the Yankees in a 7-0 exhibition loss.
Marcus Stroman’s first three batters? Single, double play, groundout. He’s been tabbed to start the third game of the 2024 regular season, as well as the home opener on April 5th against Toronto, and kicking off those outings in the same way would get him over with the Yankee faithful quickly. It took just seven pitches for the righty to get through the first inning of work, but it all went downhill from there. Kerry Carpenter took Stroman deep in the second inning to put Detroit up 1-0, before an RBI double by Riley Greene an inning later made the score 2-0.
One of the things about Stroman’s approach is he does need solid defense behind him, because of all that contact. He didn’t do himself any favors with a throwing error earlier in the inning (uncharacteristic for the former Gold Glove winner), but a botched potential double play by Oswaldo Cabrera allowed Greene to come around and score Detroit’s third run.
