Stephen Strasburg: Believe the Hype

Stephen Strasburg: Believe the Hype

CLEVELAND – After Washington Nationals rookie pitcher Stephen Strasburg’s historic MLB debut last Tuesday, many baseball fans wanted to see what he would do for an encore. As it turns out, Strasburg looks like he is already one of the game’s best pitchers.

Tuesday’s game against the Pirates has already become part of baseball lore. The 21 year old exceeded massive expectations by striking out more batters (14) in his professional debut than any pitcher in a game this season except for Detroit’s Max Scherzer, who also struck out 14 on May 30. Although he gave up a two-run home run to Delwyn Young, he allowed just four hits against Pittsburgh and walked none.

With that performance, the hype for Strasburg’s start against Cleveland grew immensely. Typically a must-see game, yesterday’s matchup between Boston and Philadelphia was bumped from national TV to show Strasburg’s start while Cleveland, which is last in the league in attendance at just 16,023 per game, had their second-highest turnout since opening day at Progressive Field with nearly 33,000 people.

The anticipation for Strasburg in Cleveland was immense. The Indians even attempted to cash in by selling the opposing team’s merchandise at the game, setting up multiple kiosks inside the stadium with Strasburg jerseys and shirts. The young pitcher was greeted warmly in introductions and Nationals’ manager Jim Riggleman was booed later for taking him out of the game.

Strasburg’s first pitch to open the game was a 99 mph fastball for a strike, causing mixes of gasps and disbelirving laughter.

His fifth pitch was a 100 mph fastball for strike three, causing one fan to yell “27 strikeouts,” joking that each member of the Indians would strike out every time. Crowe was one of eight strikeouts on the day for the young phenom.

Strasburg’s three-pitch arsenal is really something to behold. By now, many know about the youngster’s fastball. In yesterday’s outing, Strasburg hit 100 mph on seven occasions and routinely threw 99 throughout the first few innings. As the game wore on, he struggled to consistently keep his pitches at his earlier velocity, but was still throwing 95-96 in his final innings.

Despite his fastball, the pitch that will make Strasburg the best pitcher in baseball in the next few years is his devastating breaking ball. The pitch is a combination between a curveball and slider, or a “slurve,” and it is quite frankly one of the best pitches in baseball. Not only is the drop to 83 mph difficult to adjust to as a batter, but the movement gives hitters roughly no chance. To put it in perspective, Strasburg already has the best mix of velocity and movement of any pitcher in baseball.

Strasburg still needs to develop his changeup, which usually clocks in around 91 mph, but it is a great change of pace from his other two pitches and will be a great weapon for him in the coming years.

If you are still looking for a downside, there isn’t much to find. Strasburg did walk five Indians yesterday, but was rattled by a problem with the mound in which he called the grounds crew out to fix on multiple occasions during the game. Considering he walked just 13 batters in 11 minor league games, it’s apparent it bothered him throughout the contest. Still, he managed to allow just one run while giving up only two hits in 5.1 innings of work.

Overall, Strasburg struggled a bit with his command of his slurve but the pitch has so much movement he can miss his spot and still be successful. He has excellent command of his fastball and changeup as catcher Ivan Rodriguez rarely needs to even move his glove.

The early returns for Strasburg are simply amazing. The combination of movement and velocity is stunning, and his command is well beyond his years. Barring a significant injury to derail his career, Strasburg is on his way to being one of the best pitchers in baseball—sooner rather than later.

— Zach Davis is the Sports Editor and a senior majoring in communication. He contributes to Scout.com and has previously worked as a correspondent to the Cincinnati Bengals on DraftTek.com and a college football pollster on UWire.com.

Tony Bibler Assistant Sports Editor

The UT baseball team saw many ups and downs during the 2010 season. Despite finishing under .500 in 2009, the Rockets reached the Mid-American Conference tournament finals before losing to Kent State. This year Toledo returned 25 lettermen in and a survey of MAC coaches saw that UT was picked to finish second in the MAC’s East Division.

“We have a lot of experience returning,” Toledo head coach Cory Mee said in February. “The most important thing is that they’re a year older, have another year of experience, and they’re stronger and physically more mature, which I think is obviously going to help us. Hopefully, we can be more consistent in our approach every day. I think that’s key. We have talent and we know we can do it. We did it on the weekends last spring, and we played very well in the conference. We need to prove as a group we can play at that level every day.”

Consistency was the key as the Rockets finished with a 34-21 record, (19-8 MAC) and received outstanding offensive performances beginning at the start of the season from junior utility man Jared Hoying. Hoying started the season on a tear as UT’s starting shortstop and in a three-game, non-conference series against the University of Cincinnati, crushed four home runs en route to being named the MAC Player of the Week on back-to-back occasions on March 22 and 29. Hoying’s performance and versatility after being switched to center field mid-way through the season was so impressive it helped get him selected by the Texas Rangers in the 10th round of the Major League Baseball Draft.