Duke baseball: New York Mets pitcher Marcus Stroman opts out of season
Former Duke baseball standout Marcus Stroman has opted out of the 2020 Major League Baseball season with the New York Mets.
The 2020 season for Marcus Stroman is over before it even started as the former Blue Devil has opted out of the remainder of the Major League Baseball season.
Stroman cited concerns over COVID-19 and family members he would be in close contact with for his departure from the team as he will now head into free agency after only pitching 11 games for the Mets following his trade from the Toronto Blue Jays at last season’s Trading Deadline.
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The news came as a surprise to many as the 29-year-old was preparing for his first start of the season following a calf injury that sidelined him for the first two and a half weeks of the shortened season.
Stroman’s departure from the team marks the second player from the Mets to opt-out in the middle of the season as outfielder Yoenis Cespedes did the same in the middle of a series against the Atlanta Braves last week.
Major League Baseball was hit with two coronavirus outbreaks in the Miami Marlins and St. Louis Cardinals as the postponed games have impacted a handful of teams across the league.
The Mets have yet to travel to the state of Florida, a COVID-19 hotspot, this season but are scheduled to make their lone trip of the season to the Sunshine State next week.
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Miami has resumed playing while the Cardinals have not.
Stroman was scheduled to make $4.4 million in his prorated salary, as compared to the $12 million he would have made in a non-COVID season, but the All-Star will have to forfeit the remaining $3.25 million he was scheduled to make this season.
In his 11 starts with the Mets, Marcus Stroman posted a 4-2 record with a 3.77 ERA.
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The New York Mets have not had the best start to the 60-game season as the Amazin’s sit with a 7-11 record, which puts them in last place in the National League East, three and a half games behind the first-place Marlins and Atlanta Braves.