Stephen Strasburg Is Decent

The first of many Strasburg celebrations. (Image courtesy of the Canadien Press.)

Last night’s feature in Washington, DC was just about as close as it gets to a Roman Coliseum these days. Rabid fans packed into a sold out stadium and cheered on just about every single pitch that Stephen Strasburg threw.

I’ll be the first to admit that I was skeptical as to how well Strasburg would do in his first Major League start. That’s not to say that I haven’t always believed that this kid would have an illustrious and prosperous career (if he stays healthy), because I do believe he has a skill-set that comes around once in an MLB lifetime, but it was hard not to be doubtful considering the incredible media hype surrounding the game. All I kept hearing was that the Nationals were “playing it safe” by unleashing Strasburg at home against one of the worst offensive teams in the league. It all made sense, but sometimes that’s the kind of situation can rile up the competitor, no matter how inept they might be. And, to be fair, Pittsburgh kept it close throughout the entire game, a tall task for a team that had to face a mystery pitcher with triple digit radar gun action.

Having said that, Stephen Strasburg came out and killed it last night.

He lived up to the insane hype. Sure, he gave up a two run gofer homerun to Delvyn Young, but that might have been the best thing that could have happened to him. In fact, it was after that point in which fans got to see just how good Strasburg was. He could have crumbled under the weight of high expectations at the point, but instead he beared down and got back to work, and even capped off his night by striking out the side in the last two innings he pitched (he also struck out the side in the 3^rd), bringing his strikeout total to an astounding 14. How many people have ever bested 14 Ks in their debut? Two. And if you read baseball guru Jayson Stark’s column this morning, you’ll find out a number of interesting tidbits, but this one in particular sticks out:

His 14 strikeouts were the third-most by any pitcher in history in a big league debut — behind only J.R. Richard (15) in 1971 and Karl Spooner (15) in 1954. But since that was slightly before the invention of pitch counts, both those guys went all nine innings, naturally. Strasburg had to cram his 14 K’s into just seven innings, before his pitch-count alarm went off at 94.

Not bad.

But wait, there’s more! While the strikeout total was quite impressive, the more impressive part of the feat is that Strasburg walked ZERO batters. How many people have done that? None. Zip. Nada. Strasburg is already making history.

Last night was one of those rare midseason MLB games that were billed with lofty expectations, and each of them was met. It’ll be one of those great moments where fans will be able to say to other fans “Where were you when Strasburg debuted?” You watched it, right???