It’s the first game of Stephen Strasburg’s career with the Washington Nationals… this is my first look at him, and through two innings, he looks as good as advertised.
I will say, however, that Bob Costas is already deep throating the guy, and it’s getting embarrassing.
Example:
Stephen Strasburg may be the most significant pitcher to wear a Washington uniform since Walter Johnson.
The first hit given up by Strasburg was a single to right to Adam LaRoche. To compare, Walter Johnson’s first hit was a single given up to Ty Cobb.
I hate Bob Costas. :mad:
It’s the Pirates, not the 1927 Yankees, you verbose dwarf!
Actually, I think Costas may be correct. Granted he has a little assistance in that department since the Nationals weren’t in existence for a long period, but who is a more significant Nationals pitcher since Johnson?
Haven’t watched it live but im following it on gamechannel and it looks pretty dominant. My question - What would the nationals accept for a Strasburg trade right now? If the yankees said “We will give you Arod, and pay his entire contract, for an Arod/Strasburg swap right now” would the Nats say yes? What would it take for them to part with this guy?
14 strikeouts in 7 innings pitched tonight…nice debut! It happened to be against the lowly Pirates but still, incredibly impressive. Not a single walk either.
He got up to 100 mph at least once, and struck out 14 in seven innings. Granted that he was pitching against a AAAA team. The Pirates were set up to be the Washington Generals here, but even keeping that in mind - all I can say is that I saw a few pitches and some of them were sick.
Umm, he had 14 strikeouts in 7 innings. His velocity, obviously, sucked.
Certainly, I’m not going to defend the proposition that Strasburg is the next Cy Young, but–fuck–he gives no indication of being the next David Clyde, either. Should be fun to watch him.
I guess this is the sort of thing that gets you laughed at, but honestly, I’ve been following him with extreme interest since he was drafted, I’ve watched him online, on TV, and once in person, and… well, I think he is the next Cy Young. I don’t think there’s ever been a pitcher better than him.
Obviously that doesn’t mean he’s definitely going to have the best career of any pitcher ever, and I’m not totally willing to say that he’s already better than turn of the century Pedro, but I’ve never seen anybody do what he does. 98-99 every time – with movement --always down in the zone, a ridiculous wipeout breaking ball and a good changeup, plus a sinker that he apparently can command whenever he wants. Zero walks tonight. The fewest pitches ever thrown by a pitcher with 14 Ks in a game. He’s the fucking christ child. The only thing that surprised me tonight was that Delwyn Young roped a changeup for a home run (but let it be known that he didn’t give up another baserunner after the homer, and he struck out 8 of the 10 batters he faced after that). I understand the risks and all, but I seriously can not imagine what could happen to prevent him from being the best pitcher in the game for the next 10 years if he’s pitching.
I saw pretty much every Pedro start while he was in Boston. It was absolutely clear-your-calendar viewing from 98 to 03.
Strasburg tonight was the only thing I’ve seen that’s come close to that since. Watching Lester and Buchholz is pretty awesome, but this is another level above that. He was so ridiculously filthy tonight. I hope they show every start he ever makes on the MLB network.
Walter Johnson just might have been, but we’ll never know.
Some Johnson stats–
1913 36-7 1.14 ERA 38 walks 243 strike outs
This was Johnson’s peak year, but only one of many great ones. And, he played with a team that was the equal of today’s Senators–which is to say, about the worst team in baseball.
Ubaldo Jimenez throws harder and has much more movement on his fastball, but Strasburg has better command. I think hitters will start to sit on his fastball and cause him some trouble. I watched the whole game and he was very impressive.
14 K’s equals 42 strikes and he only threw 95 pitches or so.
Keep in mind that the Nats also got Bryce Harper in the draft last night, and he may be the best position player prospect since Bob Horner.
I watched the whole game also, and I was impressed. I know he hit 100 at least once, and I thought he did it a second time, but he was in the high 90’s fairly consistently.
Costas spoiled an otherwise impressive debut. When Costas said after the 6th inning that if he stays healthy, he could be the greatest of all time, I wanted to throw a brick through my TV. There’s hyperbole, but for chrissakes, Bob, ease up on the throttle.
I hope he doesn’t do a Kerry Wood on us. He’s got some great stuff.
As a right handed batter, I was thinking of how quickly my knees would buckle on one of his curve balls after an inside 95+ mph fastball. That’s tough to have the discipline to keep your head in over the plate when that curve starts at your head. I was very impressed with his control.
As for a trade to pull him away from the Nats? If the Yankees would offer the A-rod plus contract for him, I’d pull the plug. Although I wouldn’t take A-Rod… But if I could get a great hitter like Albert Pujols or someone of that quality with 10+ years of good playing time in front of them, I’d be hard pressed to keep a pitcher. I can’t think of the last young power pitcher like Strasburg that didn’t have arm trouble too soon in their career.
All in all, I think the Nats fans have to be happy. that was the first time I’ve seen him real time, and I’m looking forward to seeing him in person. Jimmy Chitwood - I’m just wondering how far you go back to think he’s the best pitcher you’ve ever seen. I’m also curious if you have been able to track down any of his earlier pitching… high school or college? There has to be some youtube video of him blowing high school kids away.
I saw it on the local network and was spared Costas’ blatherings. I got off work late and only saw the 7th inning, but damn. It’ll be interesting to see how he develops, and how he plays against better teams.
Does anyone else think he looks a bit like a meth dealer?
We’ll see, but Jimenez averages 96.6 on his fastball. Every Strasburg start I’ve ever seen, including tonight, he sat at 98-plus.
Oh, it’s not like I ever saw Koufax or Feller or Gibson (or Big Train or Grove or something, obviously) in person. I’m 27. But there’s very little way to compare those guys to him directly anyway; it’s a different sport. I’m just talking about the pitches he throws.
I did see him in college a couple times. He was what you’d expect: a 17 K no-hitter, a 23 K game. Got roughed up a tiny bit in his last start in the College World Series, though.
I watched the entire game and saw him do things I’ve never seen another pitcher do. He seemed to be able to locate his curve anywhere at any time, including locking up righties up and in backdoor (?!) and breaking their knees down and away. He was at 97-100 on his fastballs from pitch one to his final pitch in the seventh.
All the hype is deserved. I told myself I’d stop watching this ludicrous sport, but I had to see this.
And yes, Costas was out of control. He was honestly embarrassing.
It was certainly awe-inspiring, but I was also pleased to see that my Pirates didn’t quite fall to Washington Generals-level stoogery. I mean, 17 strikeouts isn’t exactly a solidly played game, but Young cracked the first of what I imagine will be very few homers off this kid, and that’s a little nice to see.
Still, though. Strasburg is going to be unstoppable if he stays healthy.
I watched the game and couldn’t believe what I was watching. I was at a bar so I watched the game without any sound. Were the announcers flabbergasted at all during the game? I think he hit at least 97 on 35 - 40 pitches, according to Mike and mike this morning.
His changeup was no joke, but his most impressive pitch to me was his curve. I really don’t think I’ve seen that consistent of a curveball in a game ever. I missed a few pitches but I think he only threw one hanger that whole game. I’ve been watching baseball since 1976. His curve yesterday was better than Doc Gooden’s in his prime. While he was pitching against a bad team, I really can’t see how MLB batters can hit him. Of course, we will have to see if he can bring that kind of stuff every game. But he should actually get better and throw harder over time. He might be throwing 105 one of these years. I really, really hope that he stays healthy.
He’s going to look GREAT in pinstripes one day! He’s gonna have to shave off that goatee, though.
By the way, did anyone else think that the fan who threw back the home run ball didn’t quite realize what she had in her hand? How stupid was that? This is Washington vs. Pittsburgh, not Chicago vs. St. Louis, for chrissakes!!!
He’s gonna have to shave off that goatee, though.