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It seems a little nutty for a guy with 24 major-league starts to his name, but the case for Stroman-as-ace is simple: He came back from that spring-training knee blowout to go 4-0 with a 1.67 ERA in four September starts in the heat of a pennant race. He was so good that Jays management was comfortable enough starting him in a deciding Game 5 against Texas in the ALDS — and not the guy who would sign a US$217-million free-agent contract two months later.

“I feel like I’m ready. I’m ready to be in that position,” Stroman says. “Ready to go out there every five days and dominate. I’m just really excited for this year. It’s going to be my first opening day in the big leagues. So, I’m excited.”

Did I mention he’s excited?

He even manages to be relentlessly upbeat about the offseason moves, despite the subtraction of Price and the addition of lesser starters in J.A. Happ and Jesse Chavez, and the more recent acquisition of Drew Storen for the back end of the bullpen.

“At the end of the day, you have no say,” he says of watching the roster in flux. “You try to keep that out of your head. I’m happy. I’m happy with the moves they made and I think there’s been some key additions,” Stroman says. “I know a lot of people are doubting us, but like I said I think we’re a confident group.”

Stroman knows something about overcoming doubts. He often talks about how his size was held against him — he’s 5-foot-8 in an era of fireballing giants — and he says it has been a chip that remains firmly planted on his shoulder. Tell him that the Blue Jays can’t return to the playoffs without an ace and he will say he has your ace right here.