Stephen Strasburg came into the 2009 MLB draft as probably the most hyped prospect. He was coming off of a ridiculous junior season as San Diego State, going 13-1 with a 1.32 ERA and 195 K's in 15 starts and 109 IP. He also had 2 complete games, 2 shutouts, an incredible 16.1 K/9, and just a 1.6 BB/9, 5.4 H/9 and 0.3 HR/9. His K/H (used for measuring prospects) was an incredible 1.79. The only downside was 11 wild pitches. He was the 1st overall pick by the Nationals and rightfully so.
There was a question of whether Strasburg would be able to make the Nationals out of 2010 Spring Training. He did very well while he was in major league spring training, as he went 1-0 with a 2.00 ERA and 12 K's in 3 starts and 9 IP. Still, the Nats didn't want to rush him, and they kept him in the minors. So far at Double-A Harrisburg, Strasburg has dominated, going 2-0 with a 0.73 ERA and 17 K's in 3 starts and 12.1 IP. He has an great 12.4 K/9, a good 2.2 BB/9, just a 5.1 H/9, and he hasn't given up a single homer yet, so his HR/9 is 0.0. His K/H is a ridiculous 2.43. He looks ready for the majors.
But, is there room for him? The Nationals are 10-10, so they must have gotten good starting pitching, right? Wrong. John Lannan is 1-1 with a 5.53 ERA, Craig Stammen is 1-0 with a 6.75 ERA, Scott Olsen is 1-1 with a 6.14 ERA, and Jason Marquis is 0-3 with a 20.52 ERA. The one bright spot is Livan Hernandez who's gone 2-1 with a 0.75 ERA. I know it's early in the year, but it sounds like the Nationals need some help at starting pitcher. That's of course where Strasburg comes in. I doubt those 4 Nats starters will do this bad all year, but if it continues into maybe mid-May, the Nats will have to call Strasburg up. Double-A is much different from the majors, so the Nats should probably move Strasburg up to Triple-A for a few starts before he goes to the majors so he gets used to a little bit better competition. Strasburg is ready- he's just going to dominate in the minors until the Nats call him up to the majors.
No comments:
Post a Comment