Starts: March 28th vs. Detroit Tigers, April 2nd vs. Baltimore Orioles
ESPN ownership: 29%
2018 was a season from hell for Marcus Stroman, who scraped together a 5.54 ERA across 102 1/3 injury-plagued innings, pushing the once-ascendant Toronto Blue Jays starter to the fringes of standard-league consideration for the start of the 2019 draft season. Yet, some superb spring results (2.19 ERA with a 13/1 strikeout-to-walk ration across 12 1/3 frames) have lent Stroman no small amount of post-hype helium as we creep towards Opening Day.
Still, Stroman isn't likely to be headlining fantasy rotations the way we expected after his strong 2017 campaign, but the standout spring totals should have him headlining the waiver wire this week, particularly considering he's slated to open the season against a pair of paper-thin offenses. Fangraphs' Depth Chart projections slate Detroit and Baltimore in the bottom-six across the MLB in terms of runs scored per game.
We'll likely be picking on the lowly Tigers and Orioles all season, so why not start with a pitcher who showed top-30 starter upside during his most recent healthy season.