Man that was one impressive start for the rookie. 14K's, tremendous range of pitches. I just hope they handle him correctly and he doesn't end up like Mark Prior. Prior was the best young pitcher I'd seen in a long time, he seemed unhitable at times. Where is he now?
I don't know where Pryor is Terry but from everything I read the Nationals are handling this the right way. His innings are going to be limited and he may well be shut down in early/mid September. That was some impressive debut.
I watched his last three innings. Very, very impressive. His last pitch was clocked on radar at 99 mph. I agree with Terry. Mark Prior was at least as impressive initially. We'll see how the kid does over a full season. If last night was any indication, he's a keeper.
On January 13, 2009, Prior agreed to a one-year minor league contract with the San Diego Padres. The minor league deal included a $1 million option that would have been lifted if Prior pitched in the major leagues in 2009. He was released from his contract on August 1, 2009 after not having been called up all season.
No doubt about it, the kid looked great. I hope he stays healthy so we can see how good turns out to be.
Sad that is what has happened to Mark Prior, he was really something his first year or two with the Cubs. I remember him outdueling Roy Oswalt in a weekend game at Wrigley, he was spectacular. But I see that Strasburg has lit a fire under Cleveland Indian fans and they are selling tickets to his Sunday game like hotcakes!
I'll wait a while before I anoint him but he looked impressive last night. And that was the Pirates.... let's see him do that to the Yankees 8)
I don't buy the argument that it's "only" the Pirates. While there are clear differences among the ML teams, those differences are within a narrow scope. The worst ML team is far beyond the best AAA team in maturity, talent and overall ability. If Strasburg can beat the Pirates, he can beat the Yankees. Having said that I, like George, am not ready to anoint him quite yet, although what I saw last night was immensely impressive. What's cool about this IMO is that he's pitching for a traditionally weak team, which will pump up traditionally low attendance at home and away every 5th day. That's good for baseball.
Tuesday night was surreal around here (I live just outside of DC). The hype machine started weeks ago and grew to the point that I didn't think anyone short of Walter Johnson could live up to it. Every television news station in town led their telecasts with this story both Monday and Tuesday. They named Tuesday "Strasmus", and were even saying "Merry Strasmus" at sign off. Then all he does is go out and set the club record for strikeouts, while throwing stuff that looked like wiffle ball junk. The seventh inning had a playoff feel to it with 40K people on their feet, many chanting, "Steph-en Stras-burg (clap, clap, clap clap clap). Local Nats color announcer Rob Dibble was yelling, "give 'em the heat kid ........ YEAH!" after those last three strikeouts. This town has gone completely crazy over this guy. It was the talk at every office I passed by yesterday, he's been invited to the Letterman Show, and was discussed on the Senate floor yesterday. I don't remember anything like it in this town. It's finally fun to be a Nats fan.
I hope he succeeds ; I'm just going to reserve judgement until he goes around the block a few times. Back when I was in Ohio in the early 70s the Reds brought a kid up in April named Wayne Simpson. He reminded you instantly of Bob Gibson; even had a similar delivery. Blazing fastball, 12-6 curve and a drop dead change. He went 15-1 or something like that by the All Star break and pitched in the AS game. He was a phenom by any standards. I don't think he won 15 games the rest of his career. Arm troubles, lost his fastball ... gone.
http://sports.excite.com/news/08272010/v5620.html Tommy John surgery after what, eight starts? Good bye fastball.
While I know TJ surgery is very advanced and guys come back from it and all...still you have to wonder if this was really necessary or was it the result of rushing him to fast and/or allowing him to throw pitches at a young age that his arm couldn't handle.
Corey, JO'Co and anyone else that has coached little league, what do you think of this article. Rushing Young Pitchers
That was an excellent article Bill, I will be very interested to read what JO'Co and Corey have to say.
Good article, Bill. Just watch the LL World Series, and you'll see future has-beens at work on the mound. Also, I read that Rob Dibble, who now is the color commentator for the Nationals, is taking a few days off after making some comments critical of Strasburg's early arm problems.
:idea: I like that article and I didn't see anything to disagree with. Corey and I have talked about this for years. Just 30 years ago, pitchers on all levels routinely threw much higher pitch counts than they do today, with no ill effects. It wasn't unusual for high school pitchers to throw over 150 pitches in a game and MLB pitchers to throw 250! So if pitch counts were higher, but surgeries were fewer, what has changed? 1. Pitchers didn't play all year round. I was a pitcher, but I also played on the basketball and football teams. There was no such thing as "winter ball" or specializing in one sport. (Except for the "gym rats" of basketball who didn't have a life.) 2. Starting pitchers (I was a starter.) were allowed to throw complete games. As you got tired and your arm wore down, you were supposed to pitch smarter and get batters out with control of locations and changing speeds. You had to pitch efficiently and pace yourself. In modern baseball, pitchers just throw raw gas for five innings, then a series of other gassers come in to take turns blowing batters away. Most modern starters are now only good for five innings, while most relievers are only good for one or two. The result is that modern pitchers never rest. They pitch in every game and they do it all year round. Nolan Ryan appears to be the only guy in MLB who understands this stuff. He believes, as Corey and I do, that pitchers should start every 3-4 days; not every five days, but then rest their arms all winter. Pitch counts are also meaningless for pitchers who run every day, but rest their arms. Modern arms never rest and that's the difference. Please consider Nolan Ryan: http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/player.php?p=ryanno01 Note that he pitched in the major leagues for 27 years, throwing harder than anyone ever has...even in his forties. He pitched every four days and when the season was over...he went home to work on his ranch. He would ride his exercise bike 5 miles per day...even after games where he threw more than 200 pitches! He did everything "wrong" according to the "experts." Instead of using a "drop & drive" delivery, he used the "tall & fall" method that was so old, most pitching coaches had forgotten it. But his results were incomparable and the only injuries he ever got were blisters on his fingers from the terrific rotation of the ball leaving his hand at over 100mph... Ryan is right. You exercise the body; rest the arm; come downhill at the batters; and go home in the off season. It's old fashioned, but it works and it's safer... ........JO'Co