Since late July, the Blue Jays have been the hottest team in baseball. They've gone from fourth place in the AL East, to holding a 1.5 game lead over the Yankees. Their offense is on pace to set a record that was established in 1998, and since the beginning of the second half of the season, their starting rotation has been the fifth most valuable group in baseball.
They're currently the favorite to win the World Series, and if everything goes well, they should be adding a flame throwing right-hander to the mix.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Just spoke to Stroman; says he'll throw all six of his pitches tonight; all feel good. He'll pitch with a carbon fibre knee brace. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BlueJays?src=hash">#BlueJays</a></p>— Arden Zwelling (@ArdenZwelling) <a href="https://twitter.com/ArdenZwelling/status/639171321813991424">September 2, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Stroman's especially excited about his changeup; he's been working hard on it in Dunedin. That gives him six pitches btw. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BlueJays?src=hash">#BlueJays</a></p>— Arden Zwelling (@ArdenZwelling) <a href="https://twitter.com/ArdenZwelling/status/639173540093272064">September 2, 2015</a></blockquote>
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In his first season, Stroman threw 130.2 innings, and posted an ERA of 3.65, an FIP of 2.84, and a SIERA of 3.18. Overall, he contributed an fWAR of 3.1, and would undoubtedly make a great addition to the Blue Jays rotation. Behind David Price, they have Drew Hutchison (who's seemingly only effective at home), Mark Buehrle, Marco Estrada, and R.A. Dickey.
Assuming that there aren't any setbacks during his rehab start tonight, Stroman could be added to the roster relatively soon. On August 28th, manager John Gibbons was quoted as saying that Stroman would need two rehab starts, which would seemingly mean he could be back as early as September 8th or 9th. His future will ultimately depend on how he performs, but Stroman is clearly prepared to get going.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Nobody believes in me more than me. Faith, motivation, and confidence! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HDMH?src=hash">#HDMH</a></p>— Marcus Stroman (@MStrooo6) <a href="https://twitter.com/MStrooo6/status/639110489084153856">September 2, 2015</a></blockquote>
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