Watch Out, Mr. Strasburg
Posted by Seth Walder | Posted in College Baseball, College Sports | Posted: June 4, 2009 at 9:44 am
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If you don’t know who Steven Strasburg is, you need to start paying more attention. Strasburg is not just the ace of Tony Gwynn’s San Diego State Aztecs. He is not just the projected No. 1 draft choice in this year’s MLB amateur draft. Strasburg is touted as being the best prospect of all-time. That’s a pretty serious label, especially for a junior in college. Everyone is raving about him, and there is no question he will be taken with the first pick of the draft, by the Washington Nationals.
Why do they love him? Well, a fastball that tops out at 103 mph is a good start. His excellent command is another. His tight curveball and brutal slider are a third and forth. He’s 6′ 5”, and perfect. You hear it everywhere. “Stephen Strasburg will likely win one Cy Young and a couple dozen Stephen Strasburg’s in his career,” say the guys at Beyond the Box Score. He’s got the stats to back it up too, Strasburg is pulling a 1.32 ERA, a 16.1 K/9 ratio and 10.3 K/BB walk ratio. He’s unstoppable. When UVA was preparing to face Strasburg last week, Karl Kuhn said he was told, “God isn’t going to give you more than one run.” You know what’s the best part of Strasburg? They’re calling him major-league ready. Some are saying he’s just going to skip the minors, and start playing for the Nats this summer.
But be careful, Stephen, you’re not there yet. You may be the greatest thing to walk on a baseball diamond, but take note of your supposed comparables, Mark Prior and Brien Taylor. Sure, Prior was dominant for awhile, but what’s he up to these days? And Taylor? He was the second first overall pick to never make the majors. Are there No. 1 draft pick success stories? Sure there are plenty of them. But there’s also of plenty mediocre players who never quite got there (and some who married crazy wives).
So there it is Mr. Strasburg. You’ll have your chance to be great. I hope, for your sake, you follow through.
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Apparently God is gracious because UVA handed Strasburg his first loss of the year in a 5-1 win. Strasburg went 7.0 innings with 15 strikeouts but UVA scored TWO runs off of him.
Talking about prospects, Bryce Harper is on the cover of the 6/8/09 Sports Illustrated. He’s 16. He hit a home run in Tropicana Field 502 Feet, the record for the stadium. He hit a home run in a high school game 570 feet. That is just absurd. Scouts are calling him the LeBron of baseball and he is trying to graduate high school in three years so he can get to the Major Leagues faster. I’m excited for the Strasburg-Harper matchup that’s apparently bound to happen in the next four of five years.
Anna Benson was a stripper before Kris Benson saw her working at a club and married her
Strasburg definitely has the stuff to win a Cy Young and a pitching triple crown in the majors. He could be as good as Doc Gooden in his first full season and/or win a Cy Young like Tim Lincecum. Just don’t expect to see it immediately, say this September when the Nationals are 35 games out of first place and need something to look forward to for the future. If his loss to UVA teaches him anything, he will have his fair share of struggles in the majors. Like Adam said, guess its better that he learns it now, rather than later.
I agree that people should be cautious before appointing Stephen Strasburg as 12-time Cy Young winner. I think injuries are going to be what prevents him from reaching that. His mechanics, quite frankly, suck. His elbow rises above his shoulder and his delivery has all sort of awkward and herky-jerky motions to it. The results may be good now, but the strain and damage he is doing to his shoulder and arm to put up these results will cost him dearly in the future (like Prior, Ryan “the little unit” Anderson, and a boatload of other promising pitchers).
[...] Walder presents Watch Out, Mr. Strasburg posted at DownSwinging.com, saying, “A closer look at why San Diego State pitcher Stephen [...]