Marcus Stroman attends Yankees spring training on Friday and declares 'I'm a starter'

TAMPA, Fla. — Crisis averted . . . for now.

Marcus Stroman, who missed the first two days of workouts with his fellow Yankees pitchers and catchers — his right under the collective bargaining agreement, which doesn’t require players to be on the field until Feb. 22 — arrived at Steinbrenner Field early Friday morning.

The righthander, whom the Yankees spent much of the winter attempting to trade because of their starting pitching surplus and the $18.3 million they owe him this season, said his delayed arrival wasn’t any kind of a statement about being on the outside looking in when it comes to the club’s rotation.

Still, he had a statement of his own when it comes to being anything other than a starting pitcher this season.

“I’m a starter,” Stroman said when asked if he could handle a bullpen role. “See how it plays out. I’m a starter. I won’t pitch in the bullpen. I’m a starter.”

When the “I’m a starter” comment engendered the obvious follow-up question — is that some kind of message to the club? — Stroman said it isn’t.

“I’m a starter,” he said again. “That’s like me making the most basic statement. I’ve been a starter my entire career. And not many people can stay healthy and deal with 30-plus starts year after year after year.”

Stroman, 33, indeed has been durable throughout his 10-year career in the majors, reaching 30 starts four times and at least 25 starts seven times. He has a 3.72 ERA in 1,458 1⁄3 innings and an overall record of 87-85.

Last season, his first with the Yankees, was an up-and-down campaign. Stroman went 6-2 with a 2.82 ERA in his first 14 starts (79 2⁄3 innings). In his final 15 starts, he went 4-7 with a 6.00 ERA in 72 innings. He finished the season 10-9 with a 4.31 ERA and a 1.47 WHIP.

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Barring any injuries, Stroman is unlikely to break camp with the club in the rotation. As things stand, the rotation consists of Gerrit Cole, Max Fried, Carlos Rodon, Clarke Schmidt and Luis Gil, last season’s American League Rookie of the Year.

“I’m not worried about it in that sense,” Stroman said of any conversations he’s had with manager Aaron Boone about his status. “I’m in incredible shape and my arm feels great. I’m ready to go 30-plus starts.”

Stroman, who was in camp from Day 1 last year with the rest of the pitchers and catchers, didn’t directly answer why Friday was the day he chose to take the field for workouts.

“Just felt like today was a good day to come,” he said. “Valentine’s Day, feel like the vibes are going to be proper.”

Stroman added that he is mostly “detached” from baseball news during his offseasons but said he was kept abreast of the speculation surrounding him over the winter by his mother or the “small people I have around me.”

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And, in many respects, baseball became secondary after the wildfires that ravaged California last month destroyed Stroman’s second home in Malibu.

“Just been dealing with a lot,” the former Patchogue-Medford High School star said. “There’s a lot of people going through a lot right now.”

As for his relationship with the organization, he described it as “perfect.”

“I love Boone. My relationship with everyone, Cash [general manager Brian Cashman], everyone involved, it’s perfect,” Stroman said.

Later Friday, Cashman and Boone said they do not have an issue with Stroman resolutely and repeatedly saying, “I’m a starter.”

To them, the statement was more reflective of Stroman’s belief in himself as a player.

“That’s vintage Stro. He’s a competitor,” Cashman said. “And I agree with him, he is a starter. So let’s just see how everything plays out. Six weeks of spring training, there’s typically a lot of twists and turns and winding roads before you get to Opening Day. So we’ll deal with Opening Day when we get there.

“We certainly hope everybody stays healthy and is pitching to their highest level, but I know we have a lot of quality pitching in camp, which is a good thing to start with. But how you start is usually not how you finish. So we will have to see how it all plays out.”

Said Boone: “We’re building him up to be a starting pitcher. We’ll obviously address anything we have to once we get into certain situations, but right now the focus is getting him ready to go. He’s got a [bullpen session on Friday], and it’s [about] getting him ready to start . . . That’s where his mindset should be.”