Stephen Strasburg's MLB Debut

I decided to use by MLB.TV Premium subscription today to watch the archived Washington Nationals vs. Pittsburgh Pirates game from last night.

That is a sentence that I never thought I would type. And I'm definitely not the only person who wanted to see what all the hype was about. First of all, I didn't watch the game live for a few different reasons:

1) My sports attention was focused solely on Game 3 of the NBA Finals.

2) So many times we see athletes get hyped up before they ever really accomplish anything. Quick story. Much of my childhood was dedicated to organizing, buying, and trading baseball cards. My Uncle was a big card collector as well and I remember him telling me about a "can't miss prospect." I think he went out and bought about 100 copies of the card below:

Ben McDonald?!?! That's right. He was the can't miss prospect who somehow missed.

3) Did I mention that the choice was between watching the Celtics and Lakers or the Nationals and Pirates??

So here it is, a day late. Full disclosure: I only watched the top half of each inning Strasburg pitched.

Inning by Inning
1st- Strasburg fell behind the first two hitters, but kept a couple of fastballs low in the zone to get a line out and ground out. Lastings Milledge was the first hitter to fall behind 0-2. He struck out on three pitches and missed a slider to strike out by about 2 feet.

2nd- Strasburg fell behind 3-0 to Garrett Jones before throwing a called first strike and then painting the outside corner with back to back 98 mph fastballs for the strikeout. He strikes out the next hitter with a filthy curve ball that is off the plate. Andy LaRoche hits a single to right field with 2 outs. Time to see Strasburg pitch out of the stretch. Similar result as Strasburg records another strikeout to end the inning. So far, the Pirates hitters haven't had much of a chance to even make contact when they fall behind in the count.

3rd- Strasburg freezes the first hitter of the inning with a curve ball for the strikeout. Jeff Karstens (Pirates SP) strikes out on 4 pitches. I don't think many opposing pitchers are going to have much success hitting against Strasburg. Andrew McCutchen hits the ball hard again, but right at Ryan Zimmerman for the final out of the inning.

4th- He starts the inning off by giving up a leadoff single on a curve ball out over the plate. The next batter ropes a fastball opposite field for a single. Runners on first and second with no outs. Strasburg forces a double play ball on a broken bat single up the middle. Runner on third with two outs. Delwyn Young (a left hander) hits a change up out of the park for the first two runs scored against Strasburg. Really not that bad of a pitch. He kept it low and outside, just a good swing by Young. The next batter pops out to end the inning.

5th- Adversity! The Nationals are now trailing 2-1. How will Strasburg react? He starts the inning by striking out the first batter. Next batter falls behind in the count and grounds out weakly to first. Strasburg finishes the inning by striking out Karstens again. This time with a 101 mph fastball. Wow.

6th- McCutchen hit the ball hard in his first two at bats, but he goes down swinging this time. Next batter chases the high heat as Strasburg strikes him out with another 101 mph fastball. He uses a couple of breaking balls to get ahead in the count against Milledge before striking him out with a fastball. He definitely isn't afraid to throw any pitch in any count.

7th- The Nationals now lead 4-2. Lets see how Strasburg pitches through the heart of the order on the third time through the line up. He uses a curve ball for strike out number 12. Now Young is back up to the plate. Strasburg comes right after him with three fastballs for the strikeout. How about that for coming after the guy who hit one out against you in the previous at bat? He then mows down LaRoche on three pitches. Two filthy curve balls followed by a fastball. The crowd is going crazy. Did I mention that it is June and the Nationals are playing the Pirates!!! Amazing.

The Line: 7 IP, 4 Hits, 2 ER, 0 BB, and 14 K's.

Recap- Strasburg's stuff was as advertised: nasty. However, the most impressive thing to me was his demeanor. He didn't seem to get rattled by the home run he gave up and didn't seem to get too excited by his seven consecutive strikeouts. It is rare to see that combination of great stuff with great intensity and composure.

No great pitcher is remembered for their first start against a sub-.500 team in June, but there is reason to be excited in Washington.