Washington Strasburgs vs Pittsburgh Pirates

• Ironman92

  

  You can't put him in the HOF....but you can't discredit anything about tonight.
  
  
  
  
  against the Pirates....big whoop 14K with 94 pitches in 7 inn......and struck out the last 7 batters!
  
  Last pitch of the night was 99 mph.
  
  Not many start their careers looking like Dwight Gooden at age 20.
  
  Strasburg outpitched his tremendous hype. Enjoy his stuff while he has it, whether it be for 5 more outings or 20 years...you gotta appreciate greatness......how could he have done better?
• disco stu

  

  Dwight Gooden started his career looking like Dwight Gooden at age 20 though. Their debuts were very similar.
• IggyPride00

  

  Look at this Pitcher Report Card from Inside Edge Scouting Services (Cnnsi linked to it).
  
  It is insane how dominant he was on paper other than that one pitch to Young.
  
  http://ht.cdn.turner.com/si/images/2010/06/08/Pitcher_Report_Card060810_200003_Stephen_Strasburg.pdf
• KR1245

  

  Ironman92;383659 wrote:You can't put him in the HOF....but you can't discredit anything about tonight.
  
  
  
  
  against the Pirates....big whoop 14K with 94 pitches in 7 inn......and struck out the last 7 batters!
  
  Last pitch of the night was 99 mph.
  
  Not many start their careers looking like Dwight Gooden at age 20.
  
  Strasburg outpitched his tremendous hype. Enjoy his stuff while he has it, whether it be for 5 more outings or 20 years...you gotta appreciate greatness......how could he have done better?

  
  Exactly. Dont take anything away from the kid because it was against the Pirates. There have been plenty of solid MLB pitchers that have faced the Pirates this year and didnt fan 14 batters. 14 k's on 94 pitches is nasty
• Swamp Fox

  I think it would be fairly safe to say that this kid is the real deal. Now, being the eternal pessimist about things like this, how long will it be before this kid is wearing a Dodger or Yankee uniform? I hope he has a wonderful career as a Washington pitcher and brings some excitement and hope to those of us who root like crazy for our favorite teams, hoping against hope that the good players are able to stay around and reward our patience with an occasional World Series visit. My Dad would be very excited about this young man because my father was born in D. C. and loved his original Washington Senators and God were they bad, but he loved them just the same. This kid would have probably added years to my Dad's life. RIP Dad, I think the old Senators are making a move!
• BR1986FB

  Orel Hershiser was gushing over him on Mike & Mike this morning. Says he really doesn't think he'll have arm problems because his arm throws from the same motion/angle regardless of pitch. He said if he has one flaw, it could be that he tips his pitches. Didn't seem to hurt him too much last night.
• mucalum49

  

  Swamp Fox;383948 wrote:I think it would be fairly safe to say that this kid is the real deal. Now, being the eternal pessimist about things like this, how long will it be before this kid is wearing a Dodger or Yankee uniform? I hope he has a wonderful career as a Washington pitcher and brings some excitement and hope to those of us who root like crazy for our favorite teams, hoping against hope that the good players are able to stay around and reward our patience with an occasional World Series visit. My Dad would be very excited about this young man because my father was born in D. C. and loved his original Washington Senators and God were they bad, but he loved them just the same. This kid would have probably added years to my Dad's life. RIP Dad, I think the old Senators are making a move!

  
  At least six years according to free agency rules. Probably longer as I am sure the Nats will sign him to an extension similar to Longoria getting a 9 year extension a week after his MLB debut.
  
  BR - That is the one thing I have heard about Strasburg since close to the draft last year. He doesn't have a fatal flaw in his motion similar to Prior specifically as they were comparing him to other phenoms who fizzled about as soon as they got to the pros.
• lhslep134

  

  mucalum49;383977 wrote: He doesn't have a fatal flaw in his motion similar to Prior

  Not sure what you're saying. Are you saying that like Prior, there's no flaw in his motion, or are you saying that Prior had a flaw? Because I'm pretty sure Prior's form was perfect until the fluke injury running into Marcus Giles threw his health into a fatal tailspin.
• BR1986FB

  lhslep134;383998 wrote:Not sure what you're saying. Are you saying that like Prior, there's no flaw in his motion, or are you saying that Prior had a flaw? Because I'm pretty sure Prior's form was perfect until the fluke injury running into Marcus Giles threw his health into a fatal tailspin.

  
  Hershiser actually used Kerry Wood as example of this flawed arm motion.
• mucalum49

  

  lhslep134;383998 wrote:Not sure what you're saying. Are you saying that like Prior, there's no flaw in his motion, or are you saying that Prior had a flaw? Because I'm pretty sure Prior's form was perfect until the fluke injury running into Marcus Giles threw his health into a fatal tailspin.

  
  Back when I was playing ball I read some in depth analysis that basically said Prior had something he did which added additional stress to his arm. Pitching as they say is a pretty violent motion and his slow, stress-free motion actually put more stress on his elbow and shoulder than if he would have had a quicker motion. Again that is just from my memory, I tried to look up the article but found a breakdown of Prior's mechanics which show other issues.
  
  http://www.chrisoleary.com/Projects/Baseball/Pitching/rethinkingpitching/Essays/MarkPriorPitchingMechanics.html
  
  I was meaning that from all analysis from coaches/former players I have heard about Strasburg is that his power comes mostly from his lower half as it should and that his arm slot and pace takes a lot of stress off of the shoulder and elbow.
• KnightXC1

  

  Not gonna take anything away from the kid but I want to see him pitch against a lineup with a little more kick than the Pirates. 14 K's is incredible but let's see how he does against the Braves, Phillies, Cardinals and AL teams in interleague play.
• IggyPride00

  

  At least six years according to free agency rules. Probably longer as I am sure the Nats will sign him to an extension similar to Longoria getting a 9 year extension a week after his MLB debut.

  He is a Boras client, that should tell you all you need to know about the likelihood of him ever signing an extension before free agency.
  
  C.C was 28 when he hit the free agent market and cashed in to the tune of $168 million. Who knows how things will turn out for Strasberg (who would be 27-28 assuming he signs no extensions along the way), but you can bet Boras has every intention of getting him to the market as soon as he humanly can (as far as service time required goes).
• lhslep134

  

  mucalum49;384019 wrote:Back when I was playing ball I read some in depth analysis that basically said Prior had something he did which added additional stress to his arm. Pitching as they say is a pretty violent motion and his slow, stress-free motion actually put more stress on his elbow and shoulder than if he would have had a quicker motion. Again that is just from my memory, I tried to look up the article but found a breakdown of Prior's mechanics which show other issues.
  
  http://www.chrisoleary.com/Projects/Baseball/Pitching/rethinkingpitching/Essays/MarkPriorPitchingMechanics.html
  
  I was meaning that from all analysis from coaches/former players I have heard about Strasburg is that his power comes mostly from his lower half as it should and that his arm slot and pace takes a lot of stress off of the shoulder and elbow.

  
  Yeah I mean a lot of experts disagree about Prior. Some think that because his motion was SO perfect, it put unexpected stress, like you said. Strasburgs a different beast though. Prior was great before the injuries, but just watch film of them side by side and I think Strasburg has the potential to be fucking awesome.
• Ironman92

  

  Just going by "stuff" in general...I've not seen anyone that nasty with his stuff since the game Kerry Wood struck out 20.
  
  It's pretty simple....if teams don't look for the heater and hit it or get lucky enough to see the potentially hittable changeup...they will whiff just as often as that curveball will make 99% of the MLB hitters stupid. He's not going to do it all the time or even 1/3 of the time....but don't tell me that pitcher can't strike out 12+ of any MLB team.....and if he does this 2 or 3 more times before the all-star break....well we'll have Fernando-mania times 5. This kid could a sports fan savior these summer months as he may take up some of the LeBron/Tiger/Farve talk.
• salto

  

  CinciX12;383190 wrote:I would have loved nothing more than him to pitch the other day against Cincinnati and get drilled. And as amazing and weird as it feels to even say this as a Reds fan, they didn't send him out then because of the Cincinnati offense, he will go 6+ and give up less than 2 ER tonight because lets face it they planned who they were sending him out against.

  Yeah, they sent him out against the Pirates....the team that swept your offensive juggernaut the second weak of the season...the Reds are barely over .500 against the Pirates this year, so don't tell us how tough the Reds are and put down the Pirates...I'm not a Pirates fan either, but give me a break
• mucalum49

  

  Ironman92;384178 wrote:Just going by "stuff" in general...I've not seen anyone that nasty with his stuff since the game Kerry Wood struck out 20.
  
  It's pretty simple....if teams don't look for the heater and hit it or get lucky enough to see the potentially hittable changeup...they will whiff just as often as that curveball will make 99% of the MLB hitters stupid. He's not going to do it all the time or even 1/3 of the time....but don't tell me that pitcher can't strike out 12+ of any MLB team.....and if he does this 2 or 3 more times before the all-star break....well we'll have Fernando-mania times 5. This kid could a sports fan savior these summer months as he may take up some of the LeBron/Tiger/Farve talk.

  
  His changeup was filthy when he kept it mid to high 80's (funny to say about a changeup). But it definitely straightened out to an extent when he got it up over 90
• bases_loaded

  

  He threw a 81 mph changeup to the first batter in the 7th to get his second strike on him. Right down the cock, the batter froze.
• Ironman92

  

  I said potentially hittable
  
  What pitch was hit for a 2 run hr?...thanks
  
  That's the thing...he's throwing 100 mph over 7 innings....at any time and mix in one of the nastiest curveballs I've ever seen....then throw the ball 82 mph.....simply not fair. A change up faster than 88 will essentially be a curveball without the nastiness....therefore potentially hittable.
  
  Advanced scouts will be all over him and eventually figure out where his typical curveball drops to and good hiteers will occasionally catch one...but I'm going after Mr. 100 mph and praying it doesn't slip out of his hands.
• KnightXC1

  

  He will have an advantage in his first few starts since none of the hitters in the MLB have seen him before. How he does after that will show how truly good he is.
• darbypitcher22

  

  The kid was impressive... dialing up 101 in the 6th inning and a change up that is filthy @ 91 MPH....this kid was the real deal