Blue Jays season may hinge on success of Marcus Stroman

The Toronto Blue Jays and their postseason aspirations may hinge on the success of pitcher Marcus Stroman who has gotten off to an awful start thus far in 2018.

Marcus Stroman had a breakout season last year and asserted himself as a dominant front of the rotation starter who strived for excellence each and every time on the bump. The Stro-Show finished eighth in American League Cy Young award voting with a 3.09 earned run average to go along with his 5.7 WAR in 2017.

The 26-year gained global recognition for his performance at the World Baseball Classic taking home the MVP honours while also securing his first Gold Glove Award. The 2018 campaign with great promise and expectations for dominance however that has not been the case for Stroman out of the gate.

The hurler was set back in spring training due to inflammation in his throwing shoulder and missed the Opening Day start being relegated to later in the series to afford him further rest. Perhaps the early bump in the road during spring training has caused this latest falter.

Stroman has made four starts and uncharacteristically surrendered 19 runs over 20 innings of work. He sports an inflated 8.55 earned run average and an eyesore 1.850 WHIP so far on the young season. Ironically his strikeouts per nine are up to 9.5 compared to 7.3 from last season.

The entire rotation has been very pedestrian thus far with only J.A. Happ and Aaron Sanchez sporting earned run averages south of four. The Jays are going to have to rely on Stroman to return to form from here on out if they are going to keep pace in the AL East.

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Starting Rotation ERA

J.A. Happ- 3.69 ERA

Aaron Sanchez- 3.72 ERA

Jaime Garcia– 4.57 ERA

Marco Estrada– 6.00 ERA

Marcus Stroman- 8.55 ERA

There is no question the ERA for Stroman will come down to a more respectable level, unfortunately, Toronto needs him to be an ace not just another guy who pitches every fifth day.

We all know he has the makeup and skill set to do it and I personally would not feel comfortable betting against him that is for certain.

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However, the hurler loves to talk the talk, well now it’s time for him to walk the walk and once again assert his dominance around major league baseball before the Blue Jays find themselves searching for answers at the bottom of the division.