Stephen Strasburg struck out fourteen Pittsburgh Pirates en route to his first career major league victory in his overwhelmingly impressive debut tonight in Washington. You can officially consider him a phenom.
Bob Costas put it perfectly tonight when he said that it is rare for players to perform in a way that exceeds the hype surrounding them, and that Strasburg did that tonight. Boy, did he ever exceed the hype. And that's saying something, because the hype surrounding this guy prior to tonight was nearly unfathomable. Yet he had John Smoltz in awe, the sellout crowd at Nationals Park ooing and awwing, and baseball fans everywhere stunned. I could care less about the Nationals, but I will watch them just to see this guy pitch. Minus the two-run home run he surrendered to Delwyn Young, he was dominant, and if this is a sign of things to come, he is going to be one of the best pitchers the game of baseball has ever seen. You can make any argument you want against him - it was the Pirates, who don't have a strong lineup; he was pitching at home; he still gave up two runs...whatever the argument may be, it isn't strong enough to overcome all the positive and remarkable things Strasburg did on the hill tonight. He had command of all his pitches. He was aggressive in the strike zone. He got through seven innings and still stayed within his target pitch count. Oh, and he struck out 14 hitters. Certainly, a real masterpiece turned in by Strasburg tonight.
So where does that leave the Nationals? A day after they selected slugger Bryce Harper with the first overall pick in the amateur draft, their future looks bright in the wake of Strasburg's first major league start. Will they become relevant? Can they put enough pieces together to make a run at the surprisingly competitive NL East? The rest of the National League better watch out, because Strasburg's lurking, and after tonight, there's no doubt that he's relevant.
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