Washington Nationals prized prospect Stephen Strasburg didn’t disappoint in his professional debut. Pitching for the team’s Double-A affiliate in Harrisburg, the 2009 MLB Draft’s No.1 pick and recipient of the richest contract for a draftee in history struck out eight while allowing one earned run in a 6-4 victory.
Strasburg lit up the radar gun, routinely hitting 97-98 mph with his fastball and maintaining that velocity through five innings. He walked two while showing off his plus fastball and curveball, with an occassional changeup that, while is easily his least consistent pitch, also projects to be a plus pitch.
The youngster pitched in front of a sellout crowd of 7,887 that was technically more than the stadium’s capacity. He threw 82 pitches and, like every other starting pitcher on the team, will be limited to no more than 90 pitches for any given start.
Monday, April 12, 2010 at 6:52 am by Raj Sethi
A game pitting Johan Santana against Livan Hernandez appeared to be a mismatch on paper.
Turns out it was. Just not the way it was expected.
Hernandez pitched seven shutout innings, and the Washington Nationals tagged Santana for four runs in the first inning en route to a 5-2 win over the New York Mets on Sunday.
Josh Willingham provided the first-inning spark by hitting a grand slam off the former Cy Young award winner, but only after a replay review confirmed that it was a home run. The hit was initially ruled in play by the umpire and culminated in a triple for Willingham, who was then thrown out at the plate trying to score when the ball squirted away from catcher Rod Barajas.
Hernandez was the story, though. After just barely securing the No. 5 spot in the starting rotation coming out of spring training, he kept Mets hitters off balance by changing speeds, looking like the version who led the Washington pitching staff during its inaugural year in D.C. He scattered five hits and walked three while striking out one.
Sunday, April 11, 2010 at 3:16 pm by Raj Sethi
