Strasburg – he’s on the way!
Posted on | June 9, 2010 | No Comments
Tuesday will mark the rebirth of a baseball franchise if you believe all the hype, or if you are more of a realist will mark the debut of a pitcher who could become one of the league’s best given time.
If you’ve been asleep for the last year, or care not what happens to the Washington Nationals, then you might (and even then it’s only might) never have heard of Stephen Strasburg, the flame-throwing right-hander who is due to make his big-league debut against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Now starting Strasburg off against the Pirates seems to be a cunning ruse by the Nationals, who will undoubtedly have a huge crowd on hand to see their saviour take on a line-up full of players who have either just come from Triple-A or should be there.
Strasburg has dominated at that level over the last month at that level, producing an ERA of 1.08 over six starts for Syracuse, with just four earned runs in 33.1 innings and 38 strikeouts.
His numbers are undoubtedly impressive, and have been at all levels, right the way from his days dominating at San Diego State, through all three minor league levels which he has experienced this season – nowhere does he have an ERA over 2.00.
But what to expect now he comes up against the best hitters the world can provide? (Forgetting the Pirates, of course, because they don’t have any despite a hyped recent call-up of their own in second baseman Neil Walker).
Well, MLB Betting experts suggest it’s going to be hard to avoid the ‘bust’ label every time he concedes a run, but those who know more than me about scouting say there is every chance he is going to be a lot better than the last young starter to receive this kind of hype, Tim Lincecum.
Maybe throwing a perfect game first up will send things into fever pitch, although the caveat is always going to be there that it came against the Pirates, but it will be intriguing to see how his numbers stack up come September. My prediction – 10 wins, 110 K’s in 110 innings and a 2.75 ERA. Anyone disappointed with that would have to be a seriously hard man to please!!
And of course on Monday the Nationals will add the next piece to their puzzle – the next big thing on the batting side of the game, Bryce Harper. Maybe in a couple of years time MLB Tips will have this down as another Washington side challenging for a title of some kind.
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