10 Fantasy Baseball Players to Buy and Sell for Week 13
Buy Marcus Stroman
Toronto Blue Jays starter Marcus Stroman had been on the shelf since May 8 with shoulder issues but is now back and looking pretty good.
On Saturday night, he returned to action and pitched five scoreless innings against the Los Angeles Angels, giving up six hits with one walk and five strikeouts. He's coming off the best season of his career last year when he posted an ERA of 3.09 with a FIP of 3.90. He's not a strikeout machine with a career 19.7% strikeout rate, but he makes up for it with a ground-ball rate of 59.8%.
Before his injury, Stroman suffered from some bad luck. In 8 starts (42.1 innings) he had a 6.80 ERA but a 4.24 FIP, thanks in part to an increase in his walk rate (9.6% compared to his career 6.7%). However, his ground-ball rate remains right on target -- 62.6% this season -- with a BABIP of .346 that is way higher than the league average of .291.
If he can reduce his walks a bit -- which he should do with a healthier shoulder -- Stroman should be the same pitcher he was last season.