One of the greatest artists of the last twenty years has essentially been missing from the music scene for the last decade. In the mid-to-late 90’s, far and few between could grace the airwaves quite like Lauryn Hill. Her Miseducation album from 1998 painted the scenes of my 7th grade love for R&B, and before that she was proclaiming to the world that ‘His eye is on the sparrow‘ in Sister Act 2 (yep, same girl…and nope, not the High Sparrow). And then sandwiched in between she rocked these lines with The Fugees that will be forever transfixed as genius in musical lore:
Stroman my pain with his fingers
Singin’ my life with his words
Killing me softly with his song
Killing me softly with his song
Tellin’ my whole life with his words
Killing me softly with his song
Little did I understand that she was also blasting prophesy through the radio as I heard that song back in the 90’s, not knowing that she was singing about a pitcher from Duke who would take the mound north of the border and effectively kill the ERA of every team that owned him. Crazy, right? That girl’s onto something…
Marcus Stroman was one of the best pitching prospects a few years back, decided to tear up his knee in 2014, effectively came back with remarkable results to end the 2015 campaign, slid into the hearts (and DMs?) of many a fantasy owner this draft season, including this guy three times, and has since ripped their pitching hopes to shreds. A 4.94 ERA with a 1.35 WHIP will destroy your RCL team when it comes from someone you effectively drafted as a #2 SP. His K rate is under 6K/9, his walk rate is up, and the Blue Jays haven’t taken the AL East by storm like many projected after last season. All’s as downtrodden as Loras Tyrell wasting away in the cells under the Red Keep. But…take heart. There’s hope! Not only will Margery play the game and turn the tides for her brother Loras in Game of Thrones, but the future may have a bright spot for Marcus Stroman, as well! Enough stroman my pain…he’s a great buy-low candidate. Porque, you ask? Well, why you talkin’ Spanish now?
Stroman’s LOB% (strand rate of runners left on base) is 64.1%, which is low and should level off around 70%. The BABIP against him is .306, a far cry from the unsustainable .236 in 2015. His BB% is elevated (.273), but still isn’t damning, and his HR/FB% is down to 12% (still high). Most notably, his FIP and xFIP (takes inflated HR/FB% into consideration) are both under four. Add in the fact that with all his bad stats he’s still 5-2 in 13 starts, and you have the makeup of a pitcher that could emerge deciduous from the wetlands of your fantasy cries this season. Use him this week, and target him while he’s $.60 on the dollar.
Pitchers are listed in order by rank. Colors represent worst 8 or best 8 opponents according to team wOBA for last 14 days.
THE BEST
| Player | Opponents | ERA/FIP | K9/BB9 |
| Jacob DeGrom (NYM) | PIT, ATL | 2.80/2.98 | 8.26/2.36 |
| Zack Greinke (ARI) | LAD, @PHI | 3.84/3.34 | 7.58/1.66 |
| Max Scherzer (WSH) | CHC, @SD | 3.57/3.97 | 10.90/2.55 |
| Yu Darvish (TEX) | @OAK, @STL | 2.87/2.68 | 10.91/3.45 |
| Drew Pomeranz (SD) | MIA, WSH | 2.44/2.87 | 10.67/4.11 |
| David Price (BOS) | BAL, SEA | 4.63/3.54 | 9.79/2.58 |
THE REPLICAS
| Player | Opponents | ERA/FIP | K9/BB9 |
| Julio Teheran (ATL) | CIN, @NYM | 2.85/4.14 | 8.45/2.52 |
| Carlos Carrasco (CLE) | @KC, CWS | 3.48/4.88 | 7.49/1.87 |
| Kenta Maeda (LAD) | @ARI, MIL | 2.70/3.18 | 8.36/2.57 |
| Kyle Hendricks (CHC) | @WSH, PIT | 2.90/3.05 | 7.51/1.98 |
| Gio Gonzalez (WSH) | CHC, @SD | 3.93/3.48 | 9.00/2.41 |
THE STANDARDS
| Player | Opponents | ERA/FIP | K9/BB9 |
| Chris Tillman (BAL) | @BOS, TOR | 3.01/3.90 | 8.69/3.36 |
| Jordan Zimmermann (DET) | @CWS, @KC | 3.30/3.93 | 5.83/1.90 |
| Jake Odorizzi (TB) | SEA, SF | 3.47/4.07 | 8.05/2.85 |
| Jerad Eickhoff (PHI) | @TOR, ARI | 3.68/3.72 | 7.61/1.84 |
| Jimmy Nelson (MIL) | @SF, @LAD | 3.43/4.92 | 7.19/3.65 |
| Taijuan Walker (SEA) | @TB, @BOS | 3.48/4.37 | 8.42/2.00 |
| Marcus Stroman (TOR) | PHI, @BAL | 4.94/3.87 | 5.99/2.73 |
THE KNOCKOFFS
| Player | Opponents | ERA/FIP | K9/BB9 |
| Brandon Finnegan (CIN) | @ATL, @HOU | 3.77/4.89 | 6.25/4.13 |
| R.A. Dickey (TOR) | PHI, @BAL | 4.15/4.62 | 6.12/3.35 |
| Wei-Yin Chen (MIA) | @SD, COL | 4.56/4.26 | 7.23/2.03 |
| Ervin Santana (MIN) | @LAA, NYY | 4.77/4.30 | 7.16/3.13 |
| Colin Rea (SD) | MIA, WSH | 4.74/4.40 | 6.23/3.59 |
| Edinson Volquez (KC) | CLE, DET | 4.25/3.97 | 7.35/3.33 |
| Juan Nicasio (PIT) | @NYM, @CHC | 5.34/4.39 | 9.15/3.84 |
| Matt Boyd (DET) | @CWS, @KC | 3.38/4.62 | 7.17/3.80 |
| Chase Anderson (MIL) | @SF, @LAD | 4.21/5.01 | 7.06/2.17 |
The 
| Player | Opponents | ERA/FIP | K9/BB9 |
| Ricky Nolasco (MIN) | @LAA, NYY | 5.17/3.59 | 7.95/1.64 |
| Nathan Eovaldi (NYY) | @COL, @MIN | 4.42/3.85 | 8.33/2.14 |
| Aaron Blair (ATL) | CIN, @NYM | 7.13/5.50 | 5.09/5.35 |
| Martin Perez (TEX) | @OAK, @STL | 3.22/4.48 | 4.94/4.14 |
| Albert Suarez (SF) | MIL, @TB | 3.09/3.08 | 4.24/1.93 |
| Sean Manaea (OAK) | TEX, LAA | 6.20/4.66 | 7.00/3.00 |
| Mike Bolsinger (LAD) | @ARI, MIL | 5.75/5.78 | 8.41/3.10 |
| Jesse Hahn (OAK) | TEX, LAA | 6.49/5.75 | 4.15/3.89 |
| Jered Weaver (LAA) | MIN, @OAK | 5.56/5.81 | 5.43/2.22 |
| Chris Young (KC) | CLE, DET | 6.37/7.49 | 9.22/3.07 |
| Zach Eflin (PHI) | @TOR, ARI | 0.00/0.00 | 0.00/0.00 |
| Alfredo Simon (CIN) | @ATL, @HOU | 9.11/7.19 | 6.36/4.64 |
| James Shields (CWS) | DET, @CLE | 5.06/4.97 | 7.66/3.76 |
All players listed are projected for two starts, and this list is subject to changes after the article is posted.
Good luck in Week 11! Target the buy-low candidates, stay away from those rookies, and start strumming a song that mirrors the doo-wop of Lauryn Hill when she talks about ‘that thing’. Oh, you know…
Drop those comments and check back next week for the Week 12 rankings!
