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Marcus Stroman had the scariest moment of the season last night:
I don't know how he was smiling afterwards, I'd be having a heart attack, course my reflexes wouldn't have been able to get out of the way, so I'd be laying out flat. Even if I did manage to get out of the way, I wouldn't be able to pitch after a moment like that, I'm sure I'd be ducking after each pitch the rest of the way, but Marcus wasn't only able to pitch, he threw had his best start of the season, facing just 2 over the minimum in his complete game. I wouldn't suggest that he have a line drive fired at his head every start.
By Game Score, it was the best Blue Jays start of the season. The Blue Jays top 10 Game Scores of the season:
| Marcus Stroman | 89 | Sept. 8 vs. Cubs |
| Mark Buehrle | 86 | April 2 vs. Rays |
| Drew Hutchison | 86 | May 16 vs. Rangers |
| Drew Hutchison | 85 | Aug. 6 vs. Orioles |
| Drew Hutchison | 82 | Aug. 20 vs. Yankees |
| Marcus Stroman | 80 | July 24 vs. Red Sox |
| Marcus Stroman | 78 | June 23 vs. Yankees |
| Drew Hutchison | 78 | June 3, vs. Tigers |
| J.A. Happ | 77 | June 26 vs. White Sox |
| R.A. Dickey | 76 | July 28 vs. Red Sox |
Marcus is moving up the ranks of AL rookie pitchers, he's tied for 4th in wins with 10, trailing just Matt Shoemaker (14 wins), Masahiro Tanaka (12) and Yordano Ventura (12). And he's 3rd in WAR at 2.9, trailing Tanaka (3.1) and Dellin Detances (3.0). A couple more good starts and Marcus will earn himself some Rookie of the Year votes.
Beyond the impressive numbers Marcus Stroman continues to post, the thing that bodes particularly well for his future is how he's found ways to recover quickly and adjust after the rare occasions when he's struggled.
I've heard this from baseball people before. Bruce Walton said:
I want to see what happens to them when they are bad. Because you are going to be bad in the big leagues, it is a given, I don't care who you are. I don't care if you are Roy Halladay, I've seen hit bad. What are you going to do when you are bad.
It does make some sense, a lot of players make it to the majors without ever having adversity, but, when you get to the majors, you are going to have some slumps, some down times. A lot of folks will tell you that it is how you deal with those down times that either makes you or breaks you as a major leaguer.
I generally think talent is what makes you or breaks you as a major league. I'm thinking that Marcus has the talent to be good, but I am happy that he quickly forgets about his bad starts.
H'e quickly become by favorith