The Strasburg Watch: First Minor League Start Set

A new feature I’ll be doing this baseball season, regularly tracking the hopefully fast track to fame-and the majors-of Washington’s future baseball savior, 2009 #1 overall draft pick Stephen Strasburg, as he begins his career in the Nationals system and hopefully works his way up to starting this season at Nationals Park and elsewhere.

Late yesterday the Nationals announced that his first “real” start of the season (and thus his next appearance) will come for AA Harrisburg on 4/11 against the Altoona Curve, the AA affiliate of Pittsburgh. There were rumors he could pitch-even start-Saturday’s Nats exhibition game in DC against Boston, but that’s not happening. No reason given. That means he’ll start the Senators’ 4th game of the year.

I’ll pass along the line and notes from the game once it’s in the books. In the meantime, keep up with everything Strasburg, the Nationals & the Senators at the Nationals’ official website, nationals.com and the Senators’ official website, senatorsbaseball.com.

The Strasburg Watch: 3/24/10

A new feature I’ll be doing this baseball season, regularly tracking the hopefully fast track to fame-and the majors-of Washington’s future baseball savior, 2009 #1 overall draft pick Stephen Strasburg, as he begins his career in the Nationals system and hopefully works his way up to starting this season at Nationals Park and elsewhere.

3/24/10: 4th Spring Training Start, intrasquad minor league game:
The Line: 4 1/3 IP, H, 0 R, 3 BB, 9 K, 0-0, SAC, ND (Tie-game ended at 0-0, called when Strasburg left game)
The Highlights: Whiffed 9 and even got his first at-bat, a successful sacrifice bunt. The fastball had a little more, topping out at 98.
The Lowlights: Had control issues in the 5th, when 2 walks ended his day (pitch count). Only 46 of 79 pitches were strikes.
My Take: Despite some still-present control issues, he continues to justify the hype. The fastball creeped closer to 100 but he also showed some improvement in timing with pitches, and he knows how to fix the control issues. Still averaging about 2 K per inning, which is extremely impressive. As for the future, word is he could make a total of 25-30 starts between the minors & majors this season, with a rumored total innings cap of 158 all year that would mean an average of 5-6 IP per start with 11 starts in the minors, 15 in the majors. He could make one major league appearance before the season begins, rumors are he is being consiered to start a 4/3 exhibition game against Boston at Nationals Park, then likely will make his minor league debut for AA Harrisburg on 4/8. 4/3 could be a great glimpse of things to come in our couple months-our first real look at Our Savior. I’m very excited.
Next scheduled start: TBA. Probably 4/3 in a major league exhibition or 4/8 in the minor league opener.

The Strasburg Watch: 3/19/10

A new feature I’ll be doing this baseball season, regularly tracking the hopefully fast track to fame-and the majors-of Washington’s future baseball savior, 2009 #1 overall draft pick Stephen Strasburg, as he begins his career in the Nationals system and hopefully works his way up to starting this season at Nationals Park and elsewhere.

3/19/10: 3rd Spring Training Appearance
The Line: 4 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 HR, 0 BB, 8 K, Win
The Highlights: Got his first Spring Training win and averaged 2 K per inning. At one point, he whiffed 4 in a row.
The Lowlights: Gave up 2 homers in the 1st.
My Take: He saved the best for last. The HR were a bummer but other than that it looked like the Strasburg we were hoping for, clearly showing improvement and flashes of brilliance. Alas, it’s indeed the last we’ll see of him here for now…the day after the game (Saturday) he was sent to the minors and will start the season with the AA Harrisburg Senators. It’s said Nats GM Mike Rizzo doesn’t like to rush pitching prospects to the bigs (it should be noted that last year’s #10 overall pick and teammate Drew Storen is also AA-bound, that’s more of a surprise) but there could be business involved too-Tampa Bay & Baltimore did similar 2 years ago and last year with super-prospects Evan Longoria & Matt Wieters, respectively. Keep them in the minors until the end of May and you delay their potential free agency & arbitration eligibility by a year or so. So it sounds like Strasburg won’t be up until maybe Memorial Day. But if he pitches in Harrisburg like he did here, the wait will be worth it. And too long. See you in a couple months, Stephen!
Next scheduled start: TBA. The major league time for Strasburg may be over for now, but The Strasburg Watch will continue! I’ll continue to follow his progress at Harrisburg and you can too-the minor league season begins April 8 and you can follow the Senators with me both here (when Strasburg pitches) and at the team’s official website, Senatorsbaseball.com.

The Strasburg Watch: 3/14/10

A new feature I’ll be doing this baseball season, regularly tracking the hopefully fast track to fame-and the majors-of Washington’s future baseball savior, 2009 #1 overall draft pick Stephen Strasburg, as he begins his career in the Nationals system and hopefully works his way up to starting this season at Nationals Park and elsewhere.

3/14/10: 2nd Spring Training Appearance
The Line: 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K
The Highlights: Got 3 innings and 49 pitches in, hasn’t allowed a run in 2 starts, and only one walk in 5 innings with a K/BB ratio of 4:1. 7 of 11 first pitches were strikes.
The Lowlights: Fastball still isn’t near 100 (again topped out at a still-solid 97) and still having control problems (only 29 of 49 pitches were strikes) but weather-namely strong gusty winds-may have been a slight factor.
My Take: He’s going to make the Nats’ decision on where he starts the season very tough. The control needs improvement and the fastball hopefully gets faster but he’s showing he’s not just about 100+ heat down the middle and the ratios are good so far. He’ll get at least one more chance before he learns his next stop, it looks like he’s got another start coming. So far I like what I’m seeing and hoping for more early on.
Next Scheduled Start: Friday vs. a St. Louis split squad. 7:05 PM ET start. TV/radio broadcasts TBA but if on radio it’ll be on MLB.com Gameday Audio via the Cardinals Radio Network (KTRS in St. Louis) or the Nationals Radio Network (WFED in Washington). If the latter it may air in Washington on 1500 AM unless it conflicts with a Capitals hockey game.

The Strasburg Watch: 3/9/10

A new feature I’ll be doing this baseball season, regularly tracking the hopefully fast track to fame-and the majors-of Washington’s future baseball savior, 2009 #1 overall draft pick Stephen Strasburg, as he begins his career in the Nationals system and hopefully works his way up to starting this season at Nationals Park and elsewhere.

3/9/10: First Spring Training Appearance
The Line: 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K
The Highlights: The fastball topped out at 95-97 in his “official” Nats debut, and he also showed off a VERY nasty breaking ball. He did allow a couple of 2-out singles but came right back with whiffs afterwards.
The Lowlights: The fastball didn’t hit 100+ yet and understandably the nerves got to him just a little bit, but that’ll change soon. Only threw 27 pitches (plan was 30-40) and just 15 were strikes.
My Take: The first-time jitters/nerves are understandable, I hope to see the triple-digit fastball but still looked very good. In highlights of the game I saw yesterday morning (you can see them on mlb.com and nationals.com) I was impressed by that breaking ball he got a whiff on-that really had some hang on it! A good debut, the question still will be does he start in the majors or in the minors? If the minors, word is he might go to A Potomac instead of AA Harrisburg or AAA, Potomac is farther south plus warmer weather (and it’s closest to DC). Still too early to say but the Strasburg Era is off to a fine start.
Next Scheduled Start: Sunday vs. St. Louis. 1:05 PM ET start. The game is not scheduled to be on TV but if you have MLB.TV or MLB.com Gameday Audio you will be able to listen to the game online via the Cardinals Radio Network (KTRS in St. Louis).

Funny Video Of The Day: The Pierogies Strike Again!

I learned by way of the great “Let Teddy Win!” blog (you can find a link on the right side of the blog) that the Racing Presidents followed the Nats to Pittsburgh this weekend to continue a 2-year-old tradition, and this time they did a 4-team relay race and, not surprisingly, Teddy was again denied. By the Pittsburgh Pierogies, one of which threw a nice body check to level Teddy that perhaps would be worthy of an NHL highlight reel. After the jump is a short clip of the moment (the blog author has the entire race clip but noted on his blog he hasn’t posted it because of copyright concerns, sounds like it was first posted on ESPN.com). Enjoy and be sure to go to blog.letteddywin.com for much more!

Funny Video Of The Day: Let Teddy Win!

I’ll admit it…on the field, the “Natinals” suck this year and ditto for the win column. But there’s one good thing about Nats home games: The President’s Race. A hilarious event at every Nats home game, it takes place in the middle of the 4th inning and it’s fun for all ages as Lincoln, Washington, Jefferson and Roosevelt race from roughly the bullpen to down the first base line with a few predictable (and unpredictable) hijinks along the way. A recent race as well as the beginning of a “Let Teddy Win” campaign can be seen in this short video after the jump…as for the campaign, Teddy has never won a race since the tradition began. The tally to date from the official start in 2006 through Saturday: Lincoln 106 wins, Washington 70 wins, Jefferson 69 wins, Pittsburgh Pierogies 1 win (visitor who stole one on 5/21), Roosevelt SQUADOOSH! 0 wins. It’s become a predictable part of the event yet still enjoyable considering Teddy nearly wins and has fallen victim to a few DQ’s due to illegal yet funny tactics. Anyway, here’s the video…(and by the way, a lot of the stunts you see during the races are impromptu and not planned in advance)

The End Of The Final Act(a) In DC: He’s Out

If you had July 12 in your office pool, you win. That was the date that my Washington Nationals finally pulled the trigger on manager Manny Acta. Fired. Read on for my quick take and thoughts on the news that broke overnight.

My Thoughts On The Week In Baseball, 5/25-6/1

Back to just baseball this week, a fairly busy and exciting week on the diamond, time to offer my thoughts on it all.

My Thoughts On The Week In Baseball, 4/27-5/4

It’s been a while since I did this but it was another interesting week in baseball, click below to read some of my thoughts & observations on the week that was.

Another Beautiful Day In Natstown!

Especially because I was there! Today I made my first (and maybe only) visit this year to Natstown, which is a sales pitch being made this year for Nationals home games at Nationals Park in Washington, DC. Click below to read about my visit and a recap of today’s game I attended between the Nats & St. Louis Cardinals.

The Nats Last Week: Win Some, Lse Sme

That’s actually an intentional typo. They gave us quite the hilarious FAIL for a game or two last week. Photo proof after the clicky.