I understand that. It hasn't occurred very often that slighter or shorter pitchers have been able to consistently produce 200 IP seasons repeatedly. Its human nature to look at a non-traditional frame, or something we're not used to seeing, and then believing that that thing will buck a trend that's existed for decades.
That said, Marcus Stroman is an extremely athletic, extremely well built, durable 5"8 (very similar to Nate Robison, who was one of the most underrated athletes of this generation). His mechanics are tremendous, repeatable, and consistent. His velocity is generated from his lower half, and his ability to spin the baseball (leaving very little torque on his elbow and shoulder). His movement is product of this ability to spin the baseball as well. In terms of pitching, and his durability thereof, I have more confidence in him holding up than some other young pitchers with more traditional starter frames (i.e. Noah Syndergaard, Jake deGrom, Taijuan Walker for example). His ability to spin the ball reminds me of Pedro Martinez, who was able to be very durable over many years despite being 5"11 and a slight 195lbs. Couple that with his ability to generate groundballs, and you're talking more innings with less pitch count.
In terms of talent, he's already proven over his first 24 major league starts (as well as his performance in Double-A NH) that his skillset ranks him among the top twenty starters in baseball today. His ERA- and FIP- (and the average thereof) over that span (2014-2015) places him 15th in all of baseball. That's not even baking into the formula the idea that he could improve. That's out of the box, as is.
Disclaimer: this post in response to anyone with doubts, but mostly what I would hit Zaun with in a debate if they ever let me tear him a new ********. You're entitled to your opinion, and your wait and see approach is a logical one
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