Yankees say Stroman will start Sunday against A's

The Stro Show returns to the Bronx on Sunday.

Marcus Stroman, on the injured list since April 12 with left knee inflammation, will make his first start since April 11 in the Yankees' series finale against the A’s.

“I feel very excited to get back out there,” the former Patchogue-Medford star said before Saturday’s game. “It’s been a process. Just excited to get back with the team and get back in front of the guys and competing.”

The door for Stroman’s return to the rotation opened when fifth starter Ryan Yarbrough suffered an oblique injury and was placed on the injured list last Sunday. Allan Winans took Yarbrough’s turn in the rotation last Monday in Cincinnati and allowed four runs and five hits in 4 1/3 innings of a 6-1 loss.

Stroman made three rehab starts with Double-A Somerset, the last of those coming on Tuesday night, and was not particularly impressive, allowing five runs and 10 hits in 3 2/3 innings. But Stroman, who threw a bullpen session in front of manager Aaron Boone and others on Friday, felt healthy in all of his rehab starts, which was the priority.

“Just making sure the knee’s moving well, body’s feeling good, the arm’s feeling good and getting built up,” Stroman said of the boxes he needed to check during the rehab assignment.

Stroman, 0-1 with an 11.57 ERA in three starts this season before landing on the IL, said the knee feels “a lot better” than it did in early April. It is the same knee in which Stroman suffered an ACL tear in early March  2015 while fielding during a bunting drill in spring training. The knee periodically has flared up since then, the case this past April.

“It’s something that I know how to manage,” Stroman said. “At this point, it’s 10 years now [since] I tore an ACL, so it’s something I’ve always dealt with and is something that, it is what it is at this point. It’s something I’ve always managed; it’s something I try not to put in my head because if you’re thinking about that 24/7, you’re not in a good place.”

Stroman is in the final year of a two-year, $37 million deal. It has a conditional player option for next season,  at an $18 million salary, that he automatically would have triggered by reaching 140 innings in 2025, something that now has no chance of happening because of the injury.

Stroman is rejoining a rotation that has mostly shined despite the hits it took in spring training when Gerrit Cole was lost for the season because of Tommy John surgery and reigning AL Rookie of the Year Luis Gil was lost because of a right lat strain. Gil could begin a rehab assignment within the next two weeks, making a late July/early August return possible.

Going into Saturday, the rotation had posted an MLB-best 2.05 ERA since April 22,  allowing three or fewer earned runs in 49 of 58 starts in that span.

“Our rotation’s incredible,” Stroman said. “I think we have so much depth. We’re deep. Everyone’s kind of going out there passing the baton to one another. We’re getting quality innings, quality starts from everyone, and it’s allowing our team, obviously, to get wins.”

Boone: Big G on the cusp

Before Saturday’s game, Boone said he’s liked pretty much everything he’s seen from DH Giancarlo Stanton since he returned from the IL on June 16. After going 0-for-4 on Saturday, he is 8-for-34 (.235) with  one double, no homers and a .581 OPS in 10 games.

“I think G’s really good, actually,” Boone said. “Hasn’t hit the ball out of the ballpark yet, but I feel like there’s been half a dozen balls, whether he’s hit them really hard in play or just missed or a couple just-missed fly balls, I feel like he’s been on time really well. For the most part, I think his swing decisions have been good. He looks really good to me and I feel like he’s really close to exploding.”

By Erik Boland

erik.boland@newsday.comeboland11

Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.