Stephen Strasburg debut tonight has baseball world buzzing

With an explosive fastball, crackling slider and baffling changeup, former San Diego State ace and number one pick in the 2009 MLB Draft Stephen Strasburg is ready for the large time. His big-time stuff is more than enough to lead the way on most large league rotations. But now the time has come for Stephen Strasburg to start building his legend on the baseball world’s biggest stage: the Major Leagues. His first start can be at 7:05 p.m. Eastern tonight against a Pittsburgh Pirates that is no pushover. MLB.com indicates that this pre-announced start for Strasburg has been sold out for well over a month.

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Contrary to reports, Stephen Strasburg does not defy the laws of physics

Clearly, The Washington Post’s recent blog post on Stephen Strasburg which claims that the 21-year-old can bend natural laws with his pitching repertoire is a joke. Legend goes that Stephen Strasburg’s pitches can freeze in midair or blink out of existence and all of a sudden appear behind the hitter’s hindquarters. The point of the humor is to poke fun at just how much hype has been placed on this young man, but the reality is that his has the pitches and also the poise to be successful. Yet all 200 of the press crew at tonight’s Stephen Strasburg start are equally to blame for how far this has gone.

Stephen Strasburg certainly has the numbers

Stephen Strasburg had a Golden Spikes year at SDSU in 2009: 13-1, 1.32 ERA, 195 K and only 19 BB in 109 innings. That was a lot more than enough to merit the Golden Spikes Award as the nation’s top amateur baseball player. After college, Stephen Strasburg was snatched up by the Nationals and kept on rolling at Double-A Harrisburg and Triple-A Syracuse, places that 2010 MLB Draft pick Bryce Harper will see soon.

Innings will be limited, but not expectations

Jim Riggleman and Steve McCatty will limit the number of pitches Stephen Strasburg throws tonight, but that doesn’t equal diminished expectations. A sea of Strasburg T-shirts will no doubt fill the stands at Nationals Park. Fans may go so far as to apply for faxless pay day loan with instant approval in order to finance all of this idol worship. Let’s hope Stephen Strasburg won’t drown in this river of infinite expectation. While there’s little doubt that he has the talent to be successful, this is only Stephen Strasburg’s debut. He should be given time to develop before being christened the guy who made individuals forget about Sidd Finch.

More data on this topic

voices.washingtonpost.com/achenblog/2010/06/stephen_strasburg_debuts_for_n.html

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