The average starter in the AL looks like this:, so you could basically say he's in the middle of the pack.
.
ERA = 4.51
BAA = 0.264
OPS against = 0.765
WHIP = 1.36
K/9 = 7.52
Marcus Stroman looks like this in 2016;
ERA = 5.33
BAA = 0.283
OPS against= 0.780
WHIP = 1.42
K/9 = 6.31
All metrics materially worse than the league average. Is that "middle of the pack?" Cause that would be new math to me.
Fact is he has now changed his delivery (between the last start and the one prior) within the season. They put up a split screen in highlight package and he has moved his hand positioning in his windup. The league has now seen him enough times to make their adjustments. He didn't play a full year in year one and barely last year. Unfortunately he has not been able to adjust to their new aproach at the plate.
Getting sent to the minors did not seem to hurt his buddy Sanchez after a mediocre stint as a starter last year did it? When he returned, he found his success as a reliever similar to the year prior and that has continued in spades back as a starter this year.