A caller asked Keith if Marcus Stroman should be on the Yankees’ ALDS roster, and Keith quickly shut down the idea of having the struggling righty on the active pitching staff when the Bombers begin their playoff run on Saturday night.
“He hasn’t pitched well. He lost his spot in the rotation,” Keith said. “He’s not gonna get a start in the postseason.
“They did put him in the bullpen, but he’s not gonna be a weapon out of there. They have other weapons.”
Stroman finished the year with a 4.31 ERA, but after a strong start to the year, he was particularly brutal down the stretch, allowing six runs on 10 hits in his last outing of the regular season, making it 15 earned runs in 15.1 innings in September. Stroman also came apart in the second half of last season with the Cubs, and while some see him as a potential bulk reliever in the playoffs, Keith doesn’t want to see it.
“I know he’s a flashy guy and wears all the throwback Yankee stuff,” Keith said. “But at the end of the day, why would he be on the roster over someone that can come out of the bullpen and actually give you three outs?”