I am not one for hype, and I usually stay away from stories like this. With that said I think we should all step up and take notice of a young player making an impressive debut. More than that we should think about the Washington Nationals who seem to have righted their ship, and have stepped up to be a quality baseball franchise. Stephen Strasburg is but one piece of that larger and really more important story.
So the first overall pick in the 2009 MLB draft debuted last night against the Pittsburgh Pirates. He allowed two runs on four hits, and struck out an incredible 14 batters. He also did not issue a walk, and lasted into the seventh inning throwing just 94 pitches. All of that is good, but we have got to believe at some point this kid is going to struggle. The batters will figure out his stuff and then we will see exactly what he is made off.
I do not want to take anything away from the Nationals fans, they have had precious few things to be excited about and it looks like young Mr. Strasburg has become the face of their franchise. That has been part of the problem all along; the team has not had a guy to be their face since relocating from Montreal. They also took the field in 2009 without the O on their uniforms.
All in all having the Nationals become a viable contender is good for baseball. Since they are located in our nation’s capital they can be a simple for our country, and attract a lot of attention if high profile politicians actually start attending their home games. This feels like a great move, but let us not forget that at some point Strasburg will struggle and I would hate to see him get thrown under the bus at that point.
Related Links:
• Washington Nationals news and notes • The Business of Major League Baseball •MTR Baseball.com
