By: Melissa Verge

Canadian Baseball Network

Marcus Stroman is a lot more than a Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher. If you have the assumption that in the off-season baseball players sit around, eat, and fly to expensive places to lie on the beach, Stroman doesn’t fit into that category.

He came to talk to a Ryerson marketing class this week about personal branding, specifically his brand “Height Doesn’t Measure Heart” (HDMH), a phrase he says he used to write on his hat back when he was in college. At 5’8" Stroman is the shortest starting pitcher in the MLB.

I hated everyone saying “Stro you’re so little, it got super old, it still gets old,” he said.

“But I got over it, one day it just popped in my head 'height doesn’t measure heart.' I would look at it and realize that regardless of my stature, I was able to compete at the highest level with the best athletes out there.”

Stroman said he’s just starting to realize how important branding is because a lot of athletes don’t do it.

 “They don’t want to take the time, they don’t have interest, they just want to be one dimensional and just be sports sports sports. Well I’m completely far from that, I grew up in a household where my parents obviously pushed every sport but they also pushed me around to different things.”

Stroman said as he got older those interests stayed with him.

 “It doesn’t mean I’m going to let it take away from my passion for baseball or mean I’m going to work any less. I realized I have an opportunity where I can do it all so why not do it all if you could?”

Besides having his own brand Stroman is in his own words “a pretty okay rapper,” and he also said he’s starting up a fashion blog soon. He said that the name of the blog is going to represent athletes taking their style in fashion beyond on the field.

He also recently collaborated on a song called “Shine” with rapper and close friend Mike Stud.

“I’m very into music. I secretly want to be a rapper,” he said. “I kind of want to pursue it a little bit because it interests me and it’s a very good outlet for me.”

Stroman is not the kind of guy who lies in bed and watches Netflix all day, he likes to keep busy and make the most out of life. He said he doesn’t need much sleep.

 “I don’t like relaxing much. I can relax when I’m old, I’m young now so I’m going to try to do as much as I can.”

However with taking on multiple projects in the offseason and focusing on things other than baseball he said it’s come with some backlash from Jays fans.

“I got a Tweet today ‘Stroman why aren’t you working on your sinker, why are you rapping, why are you traveling?  You should be in the gym working out.’ “People don’t realize that I am doing these things, there’s plenty of time to be able to balance it all.”

Stroman is very active on social media so he’s very aware of what’s going on with fans and what people are saying. He says it’s been him on all his social media accounts since day one, which is rare for professional athletes who sometimes get assistants, or marketing teams to handle it.

He said it’s possible to balance everything he enjoys doing, including baseball, which he says is his number one passion.

“It’s just a matter of not being lazy, of being proactive. People don’t realize this is extremely fun for me I’m doing things that I want to do. I’m working on music, I’m working on fashion, I’m in the gym training, it’s everything coming together, and it’s the pieces together that fit me as a person.”

Stroman says that his priority is still baseball and his eyes are still set on a World Series win.

“I’m sorry if you guys get mad that I’m rapping or making clothes, I promise you guys that I’m in the gym, I’m doing everything I can to bring a championship to this city, that’s first and foremost.”