Marcus Stroman wasn't at his best Wednesday against the Twins, but after serving up a two-run homer to Josh Willingham in the first inning, he did his best to limit the damage over the next five, picking up a quality start despite allowing nine hits.
No doubt, his stellar control played a part in his recovery. He didn't walk a batter for the second time in three starts, making the surplus of hits easier to pitch around. Still, not every pitcher in his third major-league start would have pitched around them or would have resisted nibbling when the hits began to pile up. It may not have been his best work, but Stroman showed us something with this start.
That "something" is along the lines of "grit" or "determination," which is of course a sabermetricians' nightmare and hardly the most imporant evaluation of a pitcher. But when you get past the fundamental questions of role, control and does it fly or does it roll, intangibles still have their say. Mike Minor has always credited them for his breakthrough midway through 2012, when, to paraphrase, he stopped spazzing out every time he got into a jam.
If this is the way Stroman pitches at less than his best at this stage of his career, he'll quickly become a fixture in Fantasy.