Stephen Strasburg MLB debut

[Beninator]

Anybody watching this???? 14 k's after 7 innings! Amazing!

[Beninator]

Strasburg is done for the evening. 94 pitches. 14k's no walks

[Da Coach]

The Washington Nationals win 5-2-

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-pirates-nationals

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/boxscore?gid=300608120

I don't know if this kid can continue to dominate like this for a whole career, but he was pretty good tonight. It gives Washington fans something to look forward to, and they haven't had that for many years.

One thing to remember- If not for the Pittsburgh Pirates domination over the Cubs, they would be the worst team in the National League. Even with all their wins over the Cubs, they are only 1 game better than the worst team in the NL. They have the worst team batting average in the major leagues, and have scored the fewest runs of any team in the NL. Strasburg looked pretty good tonight, and I think he is for real, but let's see how he does against some of the better teams.

[DeltaBrave03]

WOW so what he played the Pirates, nobody in MLB hits that guy if he keeps stuff like that. The only problem he had all night was an umpire who even gave up on his curve ball the first couple innings.

[Beninator]

MLB debut against the Pirates is probably the best thing for Strasburg. I believe his next start may be Sunday against Cleveland so that could be another confidence builder. Strasburg has great mechanics, 3-4 out pitches and an absolutely devastating curve ball with another benefit being an experienced Pudge Rodriguez for his catcher.

[shaunguth]

I don't know if this kid can continue to dominate like this for a whole career, but he was pretty good tonight. It gives Washington fans something to look forward to, and they haven't had that for many years.

One thing to remember- If not for the Pittsburgh Pirates domination over the Cubs, they would be the worst team in the National League. Even with all their wins over the Cubs, they are only 1 game better than the worst team in the NL. They have the worst team batting average in the major leagues, and have scored the fewest runs of any team in the NL. Strasburg looked pretty good tonight, and I think he is for real, but let's see how he does against some of the better teams.

I was thinking the exact same thing about him going against the Pirates, but it was a great move by the Nats to do so. I'm sure it's no coincidence he'll probably be facing Cleveland and the White Sox in his next two starts. Again, a good move by Nats management to have him face three of the worst six offensive teams in baseball. Looking forward to seeing this kid for many years to come!

[Bradleyguy10]

Serious question:

Is he eligible to start the all star game for the national league or at least pitch in it? With him, halladay, ubaldo jiminez (idk how to spell it), lincecum, wainwright, carpenter, etc....it's looking like the national league could dominate with their pitching

[Da Coach]

Since the manager picks the All Star pitchers, I guess he could be picked. But it's highly unlikely the manager would take a kid who would only have at most 6 more starts by the All Star game.

[Bradleyguy10]

Yeah but if he's 6-0 with a sub 2.0 ERA and he keeps getting strikeouts at a rate of at least 7 a game...he'd probably get in.

[Future Walk-On]

I do like he gets to come up at home vs. the Pirates...

when the Cardinals have no choice but to force Ottavino into Wrigley!

[tornado]

The Nats are in last place with a 28-31 record - and their worst starter has only 1 win in 12 starts....

Had this kid Strasburg been in the starting rotation to start the season, then quite possibly he might have 6-8 wins.
The Nationals' record would then be maybe 34-25, they'd be in first place and possibly the best team and best record in the NL.
So why was he wasting time in the minors??

[shaunguth]

The Nats are in last place with a 28-31 record - and their worst starter has only 1 win in 12 starts....

Had this kid Strasburg been in the starting rotation to start the season, then quite possibly he might have 6-8 wins.
The Nationals' record would then be maybe 34-25, they'd be in first place and possibly the best team and best record in the NL.
So why was he wasting time in the minors??

I cannot stand the W/L stat for pitchers! That is a team stat and in no way a "pitching" stat. I'm not saying Strasburg wouldn't have put his team in a much better position to win games. I just think pitcher's W/L records are nonsense.

[basketball nut]

The Nats are in last place with a 28-31 record - and their worst starter has only 1 win in 12 starts....

Had this kid Strasburg been in the starting rotation to start the season, then quite possibly he might have 6-8 wins.
The Nationals' record would then be maybe 34-25, they'd be in first place and possibly the best team and best record in the NL.
So why was he wasting time in the minors??

They wanted him to learn to pitch every 5 days and also to develop 1 more pitch which he did. They did a great job of setting this kid up for success. Was he good enough to pitch from the beginning? Of course but they knew what they were doing for the Strasburg and the team including who they wanted him to start against and have already penciled in the starts for the rest of the year for him.
Besides T don't be so jealous that the Nats have a better record then the Cubies do.

[tornado]

ha - I have never been a Cubs fan and haven't watched them since the Ryne Sandberg days..

just one other thought...

judging talent in all other sports is far more precise...
virtually NO NBA player or NFL player is ever a star if he was picked outside the 1st round...(or so..)
but kids picked in the 50th round and even kids that weren't drafted frequently become stars in MLB - and the opinions vary widely - but one is that some kids' career are ruined in the minor leagues -- just ask ex-Brave Eddie Mathews...

[Beninator]

The Nats are in last place with a 28-31 record - and their worst starter has only 1 win in 12 starts....

Had this kid Strasburg been in the starting rotation to start the season, then quite possibly he might have 6-8 wins.
The Nationals' record would then be maybe 34-25, they'd be in first place and possibly the best team and best record in the NL.
So why was he wasting time in the minors??

With your emoticon, you probably know the answer,but just in case it involved $$$$$$$$$$$ and free agency in the future. I don't have time to find a legitimate link, but this link pretty much sums things up the way I understand the situation. Besides, the Nationals weren't expected to go anywhere this year.

"As with many things in life, the short answer is easy: money.
Baseball players become eligible for free agency when they have accumulated 6.00 or more years of Major League service with a team. This is based on the number of days on the major league roster (or disabled list). You can accumulate six years of service in a six years span, or you can bounce up and down for twenty years and never reach this threshold.
There is one wrinkle to this – if you send a player to the minor for less than 20 days, he still gets credit for the entire season. Send him to the minors for 21 days, and he gets credit only for his actual time served.
If you aren’t grasping the significance yet, it’s this: if you can keep a guy’s service time at 5.9 years instead of 6.0 years, you delay his free agency by a year – saving quite a bit of money on the 7th year.
The point of having Strasburg start the season in the minors, then, is to delay his free agency eligibility until after the 2016 season."

http://www.observingcasually.com/why-did-stephen-strasburg-get-sent-to-the-minors/