Strasburg Scratched From Start

Nationals phenom Stephen Strasburg was scratched from his start last night due to right shoulder inflammation. I was ecstatic because I'm playing against him this week in fantasy and didn't feel like seeing his numbers as 27 K's, 0.00 ERA, 0.00 WHIP and a win. Strasburg has been nothing short of exceptional for the Nationals this year and the team has no interest in taking even the smallest of risks with Strasburg. He is listed as day-to-day and not expected to be put on the DL. In nine starts for Washington, Strasburg is 5-2 with a 2.32 ERA, 75 strikeouts and 15 walks in 54 1/3 innings. He has won his past three starts.

And if you happened to miss this gem, this is what a Strasburg curveball looks like:

Not Quite Steve Nebraska

Yeah, yeah - it wasn't Steve Nebraska (a perfect game, 27 strike outs, 81 pitches) but it was pretty amazing nonetheless. As we stated earlier, it was the most hyped pitching debut the game has ever seen. As Andy Behrens points out, "the problem, as it turns out, is that the kid was inadequately hyped". That's saying something.


Just how good was his debut? Strasburg pitched 7 innings, gave up 4 hits, 0 walks!, 2 earned runs and struck out 14!!! Before tonight the most strike outs by a Nats pitcher in a game this year was 8. He nearly doubled that! Another fact to boggle your mind - no pitcher in baseball history had struck out 14+ hitters in 96 pitches or less...Strasburg did it in 94. Everyone knows it is much harder to get outs the 2nd and 3rd times through a lineup but Strasburg struck out the last 7 batters he faced! Naysayers might argue that he was facing the 5th worst team in the majors but if you saw his pitches you would argue otherwise. He intimidated hitters with a 97 MPH plus fastball then teased them with a ridiculous 80 MPH curve that Albert Pujols will have trouble hitting.


All in all it was a great night for the Nationals as they finally sold-out Nats Park and gave their fans the glimmer of hope they have been yearning for. Strasburg struck out every Pirates hitter at least once and proved hype is just another 4-letter word in the dictionary. If you still can't get your Strasburg fix, D.C. restaurants have already started selling "Strasburgers". UGH!

Merry Strasmas!

It's Christmas in June at Nats Park today as Stephen Strasburg, a "once in a lifetime" pitching prospect, makes his major league debut. First pitch is in less than an hour and the publicity over the whole event has been ridiculous. After tickets sold out (which is quite rare for a Nubbinals game) the Nats released 2,000 standing room only tickets at 2pm today. Fans started lining up at 5:30am for the standing room tickets.

If you live under a rock or only read this blog for the gay pop culture posts, Stephen Strasburg is a 21 year old pitcher drafted first overall by the Nats last summer. He signed a record $15.1 million dollar deal and has been dominating the minors ever since. ESPN called him the "most hyped pick in draft history" and he has done nothing since then to let us down. He gets to face the lowly Pirates tonight - 3rd (or should I say 4th) perfect game of the season anyone? Strasburg attacks hitters with a 100 MPH fastball and then can buckle their knees with an 80 MPH curve. I think everyone in D.C. is expecting nothing short of a Steve Nebraska performance tonight. SI just wrote an article about Strasburg's debut, calling it "the most hyped pitching debut the game has ever seen". If that isn't pressure I don't know what is. You can catch the game on MLB Network. Enjoy the poem below.

The Night Before Strasmas (by Billy Blog Thornton)

'Twas the night before Strasmas, when all through the house

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;

The gloves were hung by the chimney with care,

In hopes that Stephen Strasburg soon would be there;

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,

While visions of strikeouts danced in their heads;

Merry Strasmas to all, and to all a good night!

Natinals Draft Lebron

You may have heard of him - Bryce Harper - the next "Lebron" of the sports world. The Natinals drafted him first overall last night and hope he and Stephen Strasburg, who debuts tonight, can bring winning back to Washington. The hype has built-up around Harper since last summer when Tom Verducci wrote an article titled "Baseball's Lebron". He talked about how Harper hits 500 foot home runs, throws 96 MPH, has faster bat speed than McGwire in his prime and scores from 2nd on wild pitches - all at the age of 16. E:60 did a profile on Harper last summer that only helped fuel the hype.


Harper left high school 2 years early after receiving his GED so he could enroll in junior college and be draft eligible. He even chose a junior college league that used wooden bats so he would be more familiar when he went to the pros. In a 3 game span during the junior college world series he went 14-for-19 with 5 home runs and hit for the cycle the first game. He played 62 games in his 1 year junior college career and hit .444 with 88 runs scored, 29 home runs, 89 RBIs and 18 SBs. If you are unfamiliar with baseball statistics, that is insane.

Harper has played mostly catcher during his career but when Bud Selig announced his name at the draft he called him an outfielder and most baseball personnel expect him to make the position change because catcher is far too demanding and risky for someone so valuable. After going 344-466 in their 5 seasons in Washington, the Nationals hope Strasburg (21) and Harper (17) will form a duo that will make them relevant for the next decade.