Stroman struggles in Cubs' rain-shortened loss to Tampa Bay

Marcus Stroman was the picture of consistency last season for the New York Mets, allowing 4 or more earned runs just four times in 33 starts.

So far in Chicago, that picture looks a bit fuzzier.

After yielding 5 earned runs in Colorado last Friday, Stroman struggled mightily in the Cubs' 8-2 loss to Tampa Bay at Wrigley Field on Wednesday. The Rays took a 4-0 lead after one inning, tacked on another run in the second and put the game away with a 3-run third that featured back-to-back-to-back extra base hits.

The game, which began at 5:30 p.m. instead of 6:40, was called after 5½ innings due to rain.

"Just off right now," said Stroman, who gave up 8 runs (7 earned) in 4⅓ innings. "Can't find any rhythm. Nothing seems synonymous. Every pitch essentially feels like I'm doing something different mechanically."

Stroman was excellent in his first start for the Cubs, giving up just 2 hits to the Brewers in 5 innings. He was sailing along in his second start as well, shutting out the Rockies for three innings. Colorado erupted in the fourth, though, getting all 5 runs with two outs.

Then came Wednesday's disaster when 7 of Stroman's first 10 offerings were balls. He needed 31 pitches to get out of the opening frame. The big blow was a 2-run homer by Francisco Mejia that barely cleared the left-center field wall.

Stroman's frustrations stem from the fact that he feels good for a few pitches, then completely loses it for a couple of batters or more. It's not something the veteran is used to and he admitted "it's beyond frustrating."

"I'm usually great at making adjustments in game and I just can't find it right now," Stroman said.

The Cubs' defense deserves some blame too as third baseman Jonathan Villar failed to come up with a hot shot off the bat of Randy Arozarena in the first inning, and catcher Yan Gomes made 2 throwing errors trying to cut down base stealers. Villar also committed an error in the fifth that led to an unearned run.

"Just didn't think we played really good defense," said manager David Ross, whose team has dropped four of six and is 6-6 overall. "We didn't help him out."

Still, the Cubs obviously expect a whole lot more out of Stroman after signing him to a three-year, $71 million deal in early December.

He has had rough spurts before, compiling a 5.08 ERA in 19 starts over a 3½-month span in 2016, and going 4-9 with a 5.54 ERA in 19 starts in 2018.

Over his last two seasons, Stroman had a 3.12 ERA in 65 starts (he opted out of 2020 because of the pandemic). During that time only eight pitchers have compiled a better ERA (minimum 300 IP).

That's the Stroman the Cubs expect to see. And he expects to deliver sooner rather than later.

"It's two bad starts. That's all it is," Stroman said. "I'm not someone to dwell. I'm gonna do everything I can to work on things and improve, as I would do if I had a great start. I'm always adapting and changing.

"This is not half a bad season. This is two bad starts. I'm gonna keep it at that and keep moving forward."

The one bright spot for the Cubs was Frank Schwindel extending his hitting streak to nine games. He went 1-for-3, with an RBI double in the third.