If you have more RPM (and can feed it) you can use more gear. More gear is a longer lever to move a car. Gear ratio is a far more effective lever than an increase in stroke is.
There are constraints though: not everyone is willing to dump the cash needed for a 9k capable valvetrain and oil system into a street car, or willing to run the highway at 4500rpm. To me, that's where the benefit of a stroker is: make the power at lower revs as a crutch for street driving. It's a trade-off. But that's a slightly different topic, albeit related, than 'does CID make HP?' - because CID definitely does IF one assumes it's properly supplied. Otherwise all our shitbox econowagons would have 14hp lawnmower mills in them, right?
