Yankees give struggling righty Marcus Stroman a few extra days to get himself right

Marcus Stroman has long described himself as a “feel pitcher,” and things haven’t felt quite right for well over a month.

And so the Yankees, because the schedule allowed them to do so, rejiggered their rotation to give Stroman some extra time to get himself right.

Stroman, initially slated to start Thursday night’s game, was pushed back and will instead start Sunday, something Aaron Boone announced before Wednesday’s doubleheader split against the Angels (Nestor Cortes started in Stroman’s place Thursday).

And Stroman, 0-3 with a 7.56 ERA in his last six starts, was fully on board with the scheduled tweak.

“For sure,” he said before Thursday night’s game and before heading out to throw in the bullpen. “(It will be good) to be able to get some work in, hone in on some things. I feel like I figured some things out. I think it was good timing with how everything played out. Just giving me a little bit of a breather going into the next start.”

Stroman, 7-3 with a 3.15 ERA before the downturn began June 28 when he lasted just 4 1/3 innings at Toronto, spoke in general terms about what he believes he figured out.

“It’s hard to put into words how many different things kind of go into it but, yeah, I think I figured it out,” Stroman said. “It was only a few bad starts that I was off.”

Of what he’s been trying to focus on during his bullpen work, Stroman said it boils down to consistency in his delivery.

“Getting to a point in my delivery mechanics where I can just be repetitive and confident,” he said. “I think I made the adjustments I needed to make.”

Speaking on Wednesday, Boone indicated his belief Stroman had started to figure things out in that regard.

“He had a really good bullpen (Tuesday) and we (want him) to repeat it,” Boone said. “He is in a pretty good place right now as far as some of the things he has been working through.”

The 33-year-old Stroman, 84-82 with a 3.69 ERA in his big-league career – including 7-6 with a 4.10 ERA this season – said it is not unusual for him to suddenly find himself out of whack mechanically.

“I think we all go through it,” Stroman said of pitchers in general. “Been in the big leagues 10 years now, so definitely have been here before where you kind of lose it in certain spurts and you can kind of get it right back with a few adjustments.”

Stroman’s previous start, last Friday against the Blue Jays when he allowed seven runs and eight hits in a season-low 2 2/3 innings, stood out for a variety of reasons, not the least of which was a drop in his fastball velocity.

But Boone said he wasn’t “too concerned” with that, nor was Stroman, with the veteran correctly pointing out he’s never been a power pitcher.

“If I’m making my pitches, I’ve never been one to be concerned about velocity,” said Stroman who, at his best, uses a darting sinker that gets the opposition to pound out grounder after grounder. “It’s more (about) location for me and actions (on pitches). Those are things I’m looking for.”

Stroman, while acknowledging this stretch as being “pretty frustrating” to go through has his eyes on getting back into a groove for the stretch run as the Yankees try to nose out the Orioles for the AL East title (the Yankees came into Thursday tied for first in the division).

“I think that’s the goal for everyone,” Stroman said. “To kind of be at their best point going into this time leading into the playoffs.”

Trevino will be backup to Wells

Not surprisingly, Boone on Thursday said Jose Trevino, on the injured list since July 13 with a left quad strain, is scheduled to begin a rehab assignment either Sunday or Tuesday. But the Yankees manager said when the veteran comes back he will serve as the backup to rookie Austin Wells, who even before Trevino got hurt had already started assuming everyday catching duties.

“One thing I want to be mindful of, especially this time of the year as we get into mid-August now where we’ve really leaned on Austin heavily, I want to be mindful of that to try and keep him sharp and fresh for the back end of the season and hopefully beyond,” Boone said. “Trevi will play some, but Austin’s definitely earned more and more reps.”