Yep, if he continues getting two strikes out an inning versus good teams...only then will he be good...maybe.
of course. they hopped on the strasburg train before the season and now they're gonna stroke their egos. "hey look everyone, strasburg is really good. told ya so"
The scary part is how he was hitting 100 with his fastball on multiple occasions, with his changeup at 89-90 and his curveball around 82. His curveball is straight filthy too, dare i say it, pedro martinez in his prime filthy.
If you guys look at the box score for Strasburg vs Kerry Wood's 20K game vs the Astros... Pitch count/Strike out were pretty close after 7. I have no problem with pulling him after 94 pitches though, sure he could have gone on to maybe strike out 20 (or 17-19), but it's not worth the long term risk. Wood after 7, 97 pitches, 15 Ks Strasburg after 7, 94 pitches, 14 Ks Wood went on to pitch 2 more innings, 25 more pitches, 5 more Ks.
A lot of teams do. Pitchers tend to have an advantage when you've never seen them before. They don't have the familiarity or the advanced scouting reports on them. Bud Smith threw a no-hitter, and his career was over the next season.
Everyone's talking about how it's just the Pirates, and yeah, he won't get 14 K's against better hitting teams. But did you see his stuff? Really? Unless you saw him pitch, you have NO idea what stuff he has. His pitches are absolutely FILTHY. I've never seen so many batters' knees buckle, even if it was the Pirates. Even the umpire hesitated because a curve (or what people are calling a slurve... slider-curve) took him off-guard. A 90 MPH change-up? Really? 100 MPH fastballs from a starter? A curveball that slides, too? The Pirates didn't make him filthy good, he is just filthy good.
Yeah this is a good point. You achieve tremendous stats against inferior competition than you better be good. If it were that easy to K 14 Pirates, why wasn't anyone else doing it easily?
Not only that, but a 14:0 K:BB ratio is ridiculous. Here's a neat-o stat on that (more neat-o tidbits in the article): Anyone trying to undermine Strasburg by mentioning how bad the Pirates are just needs to watch a video of all 14 K's (there are plenty out there). Look at his pitches and take into account their velocity, too. Ridiculous.
He is the truth.... Did you see the curveball he threw Lastings on strike two of his first at bat?? Dude turned his back, covered his face, and crapped his trousers. That curve is Nolan Ryanesque......straight filth
Only saw the last 4 innings. But the number of knee-buckles I saw from the hitters (and umpire) was ridiculous. I've never seen so many players completely fooled by a guy's breaking pitches. 85 MPH head-to-toe (or strike zone) curves that slide, too? Really? Who the hell can hit at that? Pirates or no Pirates, that is absolutely unhittable, even if you're looking for it. And if you ARE looking for it, he'll just blow a 100 MPH heater right past you.
True. I couldn't believe he was still hitting 100 mph in the 7th inning. It will be fun to see him face off vs Pujols or Man-Ram though. I have seen Albert crush some pretty dirty curveballs in his day. It will be cool to see if he can handle it. Its absurd that the Nats are going to limit his innings this year (150, including starts in minors). Rizzo told ESPN that even if they are in the playoff hunt they are still going to shut him down......not sure if i believe that. I get the whole trying to save his arm thing, but that is just stupid.
You know who I want to see face him? Vladimir Guerrero. If there's one guy that can make contact on any pitch, it's Big Bad Vlad. They're definitely going to limit him. See: Mark Prior.
His stuff is some of the best that's ever come along. he's not just another wood, prior, liriano or lincecum. he's got a chance to be the biggest thing mlb has seen in a while.
Vlad will hit the curveball off of 1 bounce like he is playing cricket..... I know they will limit him, I just think it is stupid......especially if they get back in the race. Slim odds, but what if he goes 12-0? You shut him down, right before the playoffs. This is their chance to put butts in the seats and become relevant....
