New York Yankees starting pitcher Marcus Stroman said early in spring training that he would not accept being a reliever, as he appears to be the odd man out of a robust starting rotation.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone didn’t seem too concerned about it, basically saying let’s allow spring training to figure it out.

Well, no one walked away happy from Stroman’s outing on Sunday against the Atlanta Braves.

The Yankees lost, 11-1. Stroman started and couldn’t get through three innings. He went 2.2 frames, gave up four hits, four earned runs and two home runs. He also struck out a hitter.

This came after a solid start to spring training, as he threw a scoreless inning against the Tampa Bay Rays on Feb. 21. He allowed two hits and struck out a hitter.

Austin Riley and Matt Olson jumped on Stroman for home runs in the first inning. Both were solo shots. Riley exploited Stroman again in the third, doubling home a run to make it 3-0. Stroman was responsible for the other run that scored in the third.

While Stroman has a 1-1 record in spring training, his ERA ballooned to 9.82.

Stroman reported a couple of days late after an offseason in which the Yankees added Max Fried to the starting rotation on a seven-year deal worth more than $200 million. With Fried joining Gerrit Cole, Clarke Schmidt, Carlos Rodon and Luis Gil, it appeared there might not be room for Stroman in the rotation.

Rumors swirled that Stroman, who is in the second year of a two-year contract, might get traded before spring training. But that didn’t happen. When he arrived in Tampa, he was asked if he would accept a bullpen role. He said he wouldn’t pitch out of the bullpen. In fact, per the Associated Press, he repeated the words “I’m a starter” seven times in a 13-second span.

Well, Stroman might get his wish but not based on performance. On Saturday the Yankees sent Gil to get an MRI on a tight shoulder that became an issue during a bullpen session on Friday. New York is already down several pitchers in its bullpen, but Gil is the first Major League starter to head in for testing. Boone said it might cost Gil some time, in terms of ramping up for the regular season.

It may end up being a good thing that the Yankees didn’t trade Stroman after signing Fried. The veteran, who was an All-Star as recently as 2023, may come in handy.

But not if he pitches like he pitched on Sunday. That won’t work, whether he’s pitching out of the rotation or the bullpen.