Blue Jays: A closer look at Stroman, the ace

2015 was wiped away by injury

Entering the 2015 season, Stroman was considered the ace of a young and talented Blue Jays staff, and was set to receive the ball on Opening Day. Unfortunately for the former Duke product, a spring training knee injury would take him out before the season even began, and sent him under the knife to correct a torn ACL.

Many of us (myself included) scoffed at the youngster when he claimed he would make it back before the season was over, but he did just that, making 4 starts down the stretch and coming up huge for the needy rotation. He had a 1.67 ERA in those 4 starts, and helped the Blue Jays snap their 22 year playoff drought.

Seeing him on the mound and stepping into playoff level atmosphere, after having missed almost the entire season was impressive enough, but then he carried it into the actual playoffs, making two big starts against the Texas Rangers in the ALDS before getting roughed up a bit in his lone ALCS start.

Considering that he’s lost almost an entire season to injury, he’s done pretty well to set himself up as one of the more exciting young arms in the American League. Realistically he’s only made 2 season’s worth of starts, meaning he’s got plenty of learning and growing to do before he reaches his full potential.