Duke baseball: Marcus Stroman suffers serious injury prior to Opening Day

Former Duke baseball star Marcus Stroman was dealt a major injury blow prior to Opening Day with the New York Mets.

Marcus Stroman was set to take part in his first full season with the New York Mets, somewhat.

But that, like so many other things in 2020, has been flipped on its head.

It was a sobering Wednesday afternoon for the Mets, who should be excited to finally get their season underway on Friday, but once again the team is dealing with injury issues on its pitching staff.

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After what manager Luis Rojas called ‘calf tightness,’ the former Blue Devil underwent an MRI, and it revealed a tear of his calf. He has since been placed on the Injured List.

Stroman was previously considered ‘day-to-day’ prior to the MRI, but when telling the media of Stroman’s injury, Rojas said that he’s more on a ‘week-to-week’ basis with the All-Star pitcher.

The Mets were relying on Marcus Stroman to be a solid No. 2 pitcher in its rotation behind back-to-back CY Young Award winner Jacob deGrom, who also dealt with an injury scare this summer.

deGrom is scheduled to pitch on Opening Day, but after the Mets were already dealing with the Tommy John surgery of Noah Syndergaard, Stroman was ready to step his game up to the next level.

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After dominating in the American League East with the Toronto Blue Jays for the first half of last season, Stroman was traded to the Mets near the Trading Deadline and posted a 6-11 record and a 2.96 ERA in the first half of the season with the Blue Jays but a 4-2 record with a 3.77 ERA with the Mets.

The 29-year-old is also entering the final year of his contract and is scheduled to make a guaranteed $12 million this season before becoming an unrestricted free agent in 2021.

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With no idea when, or if, Marcus Stroman can return this season, the Mets will get their season started on Friday, July 24 against the reigning National League East Champion Atlanta Braves at Citi Field with first pitch scheduled for 4:10pm EST.

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