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| Photo Credit: Gene J. Puskar |
When Marcus Stroman was originally given the opportunity to be a starter it was going to be a trial by fire. It is fair to say he has taken the opportunity and ran with it.
After his most recent start; a strong 6.2 innings, allowing two runs on two hits with six strikeouts against Cy Young contender Chris Sale, he is no longer considered a flash in the pan.
The 5’9″ native of Patchogue has lowered his ERA to 4.02 and has struck out 36 against nine walks in 42.2 innings.
He has certainly played a hand in the Blue Jays first half success, which has them at 47-39 and in first place in the AL East.
Initially, there were doubters– as there always has been with Stroman. After his dominating start against the Kansas City Royals that featured this gif, people began to take him seriously.
Then came his consecutive starts against the Yankees. The first one was not particularly impressive, 3.2 innings allowing two ER but last week he posted an eye-opening performance in Toronto with a career-high eight innings, seven strikeouts, one walk and allowing only a solo HR to Mark Teixeira.
After his last start, the Toronto Sun went as far to say he’s Toronto’s best starting pitcher right now.
That is high praise when you consider it is a staff that features 2012 Cy Young winner R.A. Dickey, 200-game winner Mark Buehrle and the up-and-coming Drew Hutchison,
It is still very early in his career, but most people outside of Long Island had major reservations when it came to trusting a 5’9″ pitcher as a starter.
Just as he has always done, Stroman has proved his worth already. Additionally, GM Alex Anthropoulos already stated there is no innings cap on him this year since he has already eclipsed the 150 innings mark in the minor leagues.
Fantasy owners have noticed his dynamic ability and have picked him up in mixed leagues. The next challenge will be how he handles the rigor of a pennant race in the second half when he begins to tire out, but for now he is on top of his game and making a name for himself on a national level.
