Stephen Strasburg is ready to dominate fantasy baseball.
The Nationals ace is more than three years removed from Tommy John surgery and has been working on adding a slider to his repertoire. The only pitcher I'd take over Strasburg for fantasy purposes is Clayton Kershaw, but it's closer than some might think.
Thanks to some bad luck and a poor offense, Strasburg only won eight times over 30 starts in 2013. Because of this, veteran pitchers such as Cliff Lee and Justin Verlander are often ranked ahead of Strasburg on fantasy cheat sheets. Don't let them fool you.
Strasburg posted a 3.00 ERA with 191 strikeouts over 183 innings last season. His 1.05 WHIP was considerably improved from the 1.16 WHIP he posted in 2012. Another improvement is reasonable, considering he's another year removed from surgery, and the sky is the limit if he can manage 200-plus innings.
The fact that his arm is feeling good enough to experiment with pitches is a great sign. But Strasburg is modest when it comes to adding a slider to an arsenal that already includes a fastball, curveball and changeup.
"It's just a work in progress," Strasburg told the Washington Post on Tuesday. "It's something that I've been messing with. I'm just trying to get a feel for it. I'm not going to dump any of my other pitches. But I'll just have something in the back pocket. ... I think my arm is more flexible, like I'm staying behind it more."
If Strasburg stays healthy, slider or no slider, we could be looking at a historic season from the 25-year-old ace. Don't let another fantasy owner in your league reap the benefits.
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