Stephen Strasburg - Young Phenom

[j41181]

This dude is on track to have the fastest pitch ever, and he's only in college:

Strasburg 2nd fastest, but not for longEdited by: j41181

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

is Strasburg the greatest pitching prospect EVER? some say yes ...

So just how good is Stephen Strasburg, the San Diego State right-hander who is regarded as the No. 1 talent in this year's draft?








"The best I've ever seen," says a longtime scout. "And it's not even close."








C'mon. Better than Mark Prior? Remember how incredible he looked coming out of Southern Cal -- tall, big legs, good mechanics, robot-like. You're saying he's better than what Prior was then?





"Easily," says the scout, over the phone. "I'm telling you, it's not even close."








What did you see in him? "The day that I saw him pitch, his first fastball was 99 mph, and he was at 100-102 mph the rest of the way," says the scout, who is not one for hyperbole.


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Yeah, heard he had a good fastball. Straight as a string, right? "That's the thing," said the scout. "Whenever you see a fastball at 100 mph, it's always straight. No movement. But his fastball has a lot of movement, which really doesn't make that much sense, because it's on the hitter so quickly. His fastball cuts."








Wow. His secondary stuff must be a work in progress. That's the way it usually is with guys who are that overpowering at that age.








"No," said the scout. "He's got a plus slider, at 93-94 mph, and he's got a plus changeup. He's the best I've ever seen."








How are his mechanics? "Fine," says the scout. "Looks totally fine to me. No real concerns."








Strasburg has thrown 20.1 innings this season, and he has 45 strikeouts. That means that out of the 61 outs he's registered, 45 are by strikeout. "It's like watching someone play one of those baseball video games for the first time -- it's like the hitters are completely guessing where he's going to throw the ball," said the scout. "They're just swinging in a spot and hoping that's where he throws it, because they can't track it."








The way you're describing him, I say to the scout, you're talking about someone who could be in the big leagues this summer?








The scout laughs. "You could put him in a rotation right now, and he could be a No. 2 or No. 3 starter," says the scout. "Right now, he's better than A.J. Burnett."








So in other words, in this scout's eyes, Stephen Strasburg, the ace of the San Diego State Aztecs, is better than the No. 2 free agent pitcher in the offseason, and he could be the ace of the Washington Nationals by the end of the summer -- if they decide to take him.

he certainly has an impeccable amateur resume, and the WOW factor to be a superstar. but is the hype too much pressure for him to bear?

 

[Van_Slyke_CF]

Stephen Strasburg threw a 17 K no-hitter on Friday.

Let's hope he can stay healthy for a long, brilliant MLB career.

 

[PhillyBirds]

BREAKING:

Strasburg and his agent, the detestable Scott Boras, have reached an agreement with the Washington Nationals at the deadline (which was midnight). Contract breakdown courtesy of Baseball America:

"Four-year major league deal, $7.5 million bonus, $7.6 million in salaries (including pro-rated $400,000 salary for remainder of 2009), $15.1 million total guaranteed. Also various incentives based on big league award voting."

Wowzers. I hope the best for the young man.

 

[Bear Backer]

WOW! A REASONABLE by today's standard salary for a labeled "Super can't miss prospect"? represented by Scott Boras no less. What gives?

 

[icsept]

14 strikeouts in 7 innings in his major league debut.

 

[Tom Iron]

Pretty good for starters.

Tom Iron...

 

[Freethinker]

To put into perspective how good Strasburg was, the MLB record for most strikeouts in an MLB debut is 15 and that happened way back in 1971.

I watched most of the game. His 4 seam fastball was consistently 97-99 and nearly un-hittable. His curveball had such tight break that it appeared that Stephen had it on a string. His changeup was the one pitch that got him touched up as he gave up a 2-run homer on one. None the less, it is a great pitch for him that he can use to put away hitters.

In terms of pure stuff, he's the most impressive young pitcher I've seen in my life time (25 years old). Kerry Wood when he debuted would probably be #2.

 

[Don Wassall]

Even more impressive, he had zero walks! Best debut ever, although some might say it deserves an asterisk since it was arguably against a minor league team (Pirates).

 

[guest301]

I heard on ESPN that one of his fastballs hit 103 mph on the radar gun last night. The kid also appears to have good mechanics as well and may not be as susceptible to injury as other hard throwing phenoms have had such as Kerry Wood.

 

[celticdb15]

The way he was throwing the ball last night, I don't think it really mattered what team he was up against. He has acceptional control and man his stuff is just plain nasty. I'm suddenly excited to see the Nationals!

 

[Tom Iron]

He must've been something to see.

Tom Iron...

 

[PhillyBirds]

I was going to make a new thread for this, but I didn't see this one. Seems like an appropriate place.

Anyone who watched Strasburg's debut, or saw the highlights, could plainly see that he has some of the best raw stuff anyone has ever seen. However, using Brooks Baseball's Pitchfx tool we can see how unbelievable his pitches truly were.

FASTBALL

Strasburg's best, and most "famous" pitch is definitely his fastball. Pitchfx has some remarkable numbers to back up that assertion.

Strasburg's fastball averaged an unreal 97.52 mph throughout the game, topping out at 101.1 mph (according to Pitchfx, ballpark radar seems to differ). And while Pitchfx doesn't differentiate between two and four-seam fastballs, he still averaged 7.22 inches of horizontal break. Wicked! (mind you, this may be skewed, as both types of fastballs are lumped together) He threw 60 fastballs, more than double that of any other pitch. He also threw it for a strike over 66% of the time, a testament to his great control. He generated eight swinging strikes with the fastball.

But the real fun happens with the next offering...

CURVEBALL

Strasburg threw 25 hooks, and is probably one of the best breaking balls I've ever had the pleasure to see. You may agree (incoming .gif):

Needless to say, it's a great offering. He averaged 82 mph on the curve with an equally absurd 8.9 inches of vertical break, on average. Strasburg again pounded the zone with this one, throwing it for a strike 77% of the time, three of those being swinging strikes. Look for this to generate a ton of strikeouts for him throughout his career.

CHANGEUP

The change-of-pace is Strasburg's least-known pitch, but is graded by scouts as plus-plus as well. Considering how hard he throws his fastball, it may not surprise some that his changeup averaged 90.16 mph! That's faster than many pitchers thrown their fastballs!

Pitchfx may have also confused this with other fastballs considering how hard he throws it. Of the nine that he threw, seven were for strikes, three of them swings-and-misses.

Needless to say, Stephen Strasburg is a ridiculous talent that should have a fantastic career in front of him. Hopefully he will avoid injury like other "can't-miss" prospects such as Kerry Wood, Mark Prior, and Todd van Poppel. I foresee a dominant rookie season, but his true mettle will be tested when hitters start to see him regularly. But in the meantime, go Nationals, and good luck to Mr. Strasburg!

*SOURCE*Edited by: PhillyBirds

 

[Freethinker]

Great post and info PhillyBirds!

 

[Tom Iron]

I just saw a video of this kid. Very, very impressive.

Now, hopefully he doesn't fall in with a bad crowd or get hurt.

Tom Iron...

 

[Van_Slyke_CF]

Tom: My impression of Stephen Strasburg is that he's plenty mature for his age and I don't think the fame and fortune building up around him will affect him adversely. We can't see down the road, but it will also help that several loser affletes and affletitos the Nationals had between '07 and '09 have taken a hike.

As long as the Nationals don't place too much of a workload on his shoulders-literally with his pitching one and figuratively to expect him to be the franchise's savior-I expect great things from him, and he should be an inspiration for young white pitchers that it is a position in a sport that they are still allowed to excel at most of the time.Edited by: Van_Slyke_CF

 

[Europe]

Maybe he should stop throwing 91 mph change ups because ha gave up another home run on it today.

 

[Van_Slyke_CF]

He needs to mix in some change-ups to keep the hitters off-balance and get through the order successfully a second and a third time.

No MLB starting pitcher can get it done for any extended period of time without the ability to consistently disrupt the timing of the batters.

Relievers can go an inning and just throw gas, if they've got enough velocity.

Starters can't do it, regardless of what some old-timers think.

If Stephen Strasburg can stay healthy, he will a have a tremendous career.

 

[Realgeorge]

Here in the Peoples Republic of Nearly-All-Black Too-close-to-DC, we get all of the Nationals' games on the tube courtesy of the MASN Network, owned by the owner of the Baltimore Orioles. The best thing that has happened to the Orioles this year is the Nationals' phenom pitcher Strasburg. The ratings are sky-high when he pitches, and he has become the finest revenue source for the Orioles owner. Only in America.

I watch the kid. Yep, he has a rocket. Has been cool as a Romaine Lettuce in the veg department at Giant Food during tough innings -- of which he has had exactly one, in three games. Otherwise he strikes out nearly everybody. Many of us hope he doesn't burn out like Kerry Wood.

Worse yet, DC is crawling with feminist, neurotic, me-first young females who would love to get their hands on young Skywalker. The Nats have groupies already, much like the Caps' hockey team. A major risk for Strasburg would be an unfortunate choice of broads. It's a target-rich environment in DC & vicinity, if one is looking for a female who is good with hair spray / lipstick / tight clothes / and on the make for a young fellow with bucks. Strasburg isn't magnificently photogenic, but he's young and athletic (and rich) enough to become a target like Alex Ovechkin has. Let's hope Stras can somehow avoid the DC Bitch and stick with a home-grown girl from flyover space

 

[sport historian]

Today against Kansas City, Strasburg allowed one run in six innings and struck out 10, but took his first loss 1-0. Unfortunately, he's with a team that isn't going to score a lot of runs based on their current performance.

 

[j41181]

Stephen is married to the former Rachel Lackey. He married at 21, which is real young. But I hope he and Rachel stick together for the long term, which might not be easy in the world of sports.
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<div>http://www.playerwives.com/mlb/washington-nationals/stephen-strasburgs-wife-rachel-lackey/</font>http://thebiglead.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/20090821-155655-pic-514411337_t756.jpg</div>

Quite rare for a white athlete, most blacks get married early and even have children. I too hope he and Rachel stick together for the long term, and have children.

Most white athletes don't get married until a later age, 29-31 yrs. in most cases.

 

[foreverfree]

Strasburg got railroaded (sorry, railfans, couldn't resist) again tonight. Lost to ATL 5-0. All the Braves' runs came in the 7th, which Strasburg didn't finish. Now 2-2, 2.27 ERA.

I look forward to when he faces the Phillies. The Nats see them again on July 30 through Aug. 1.

John

 

[Tom Iron]

foreverfree,

What's your assessment on his performance?

Tom Iron...

 

[foreverfree]

Dunno, Tom. I just look at the scores, standings, etc. I got Strasburg's W-L and ERA from the Yahoo boxscore. I hardly tune into a sports event from start to finish anymore, except maybe a soccer game, and even that's mainly for background noise, even in the WC. I rarely read print reports of games either, other than messageboard threads. I try to live in the real world. I leave sports *analysis* to messageboard-bound geeks like you guys. So I'm not going to attempt to be an expert on Strasburg. Sorry.

Besides, I'm a Phillies phan, which is why I mentioned that 7/30-8/1 series.

JohnEdited by: foreverfree

 

[Liverlips]

"Washington, DC -- Buoyed by a better record and the addition of rookie phenom Stephen Strasburg, the Washington Nationals for the first time no longer have the worst regional cable TV ratings in Major League Baseball, SportsBusiness Journal reported. The team scored a 1.34 average household rating on the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN) during the first half of the season, ranking above both the Los Angeles Angels and Oakland A's. The ratings are more than double a year ago.
When Strasburg pitches, however, the numbers balloon to 4.4."

http://www.masnsports.com/index_nationals.php