Keep your eyes on the prize baseball fans! Insider trading is just… well… wrong, but here’s the pitcher to watch in 2012! His name is Stephen Strasburg .
On June 8, 2010 a gangly-looking 21 year-old took the mound for the Washington Nationals against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Seven innings later he left that mound having struck out 14 major leaguers. He did give up 4 hits and 2 runs, but won his major league debut. Suddenly, the baseball world was abuzz with everybody nodding and expressing the short cliché “… real deal, this kid…!” “This kid” is Stephen Strasburg. This kid can throw a baseball that makes radar guns light up in 3 digits! This kid forces million dollar hitters to walk back to the dugout shaking their heads! This kid makes fans come out to the ballpark as if there was a planned Sasquatch sighting! Stephen Sasquatch, uh… Stephen Strasburg could be the most exciting player in the game today!
Some critics will say he is unproven, may not last, hasn’t even won 20 games, or is injury prone. I don’t have a crystal ball and I can’t give solid answers to any of those questions. However, when I watched him unleash flame after flame on TV, I just thought, “Wow!” It was that same “Wow!” when Mariano Rivera would shut down opponents in a save situation or when Secretariat would almost lap the field in the Triple Crown. When I watch Asdrubal Carbrera of the Cleveland Indians pull off a web-gem with the non-glove hand, it’s very special. Stephen Strasburg is very special.
Number 37 for the Nationals has more than “smoke.” His change-up comes in at about 90 mph. Confused? Yes, that’s right, change-up speed is about the same speed other pitchers use to blow it by you! Ok, duly noted, what about the curve? The curve, or “slurve”, as he calls it, is even slower, about 80 mph. That pitch is filthy too because it breaks about 7 inches. So think about not being late… start your swing early at a pitch hurtling toward your solar plexus (and a possible ouchy), suddenly, it’s over the plate, dropping away, gone! Did you remember to say, “Excuse me” after that 1/2 swing? You are forgiven. You will also get a “K” next to your name in the score book.
Stephen Strasburg needs to be on your MLB mound watch because he is loaded with P-O-T-E-N-T-I-A-L. He overcame a shoulder injury in 2011. He can throw “gas” but has very good control. He brings people to the ballpark. The most interesting player before … was a player that stuck out one more (15) than Stephen (14) in his first start. The fans loved him… he was a tremendous athlete, and a tremendous person. He was a guy named Bob Feller (1918-2010)!