I assume many of you know. Most hyped up first start for a rookie that I can recall. They did it at home against Pittsburgh to give him a favorable situation, and also they wanted to delay it until June so that he'll be arbitration-eligible one year later, based on how they use him for the rest of the season.
The Pirates should be allowed to start every at-bat 2-0 just to make things fair. Mark Prior was the last I remember with this hype level. He was awesome until he ruined his arm.
Prior I believe used PEDs, which probably contributed to his washing out of baseball so quickly. He was so damn talented and then after one of the injuries, he just never made the comeback. A few teams tried him, but he never got back to the majors and now he's out of baseball at 29. A very strange career. His last major league start was in August 2006, when he was 25 years old. His last successful major league run was in 2005. He was awful in 2006. Strasburg is an even better prospect though, and I do believe the hype now is greater than it was for Prior in 2002. Heck, the Twins passed up Prior due to contract demands (another Boras client). They did end up with a better pick (Mauer), but if it was Strasburg, I doubt any team would pass him up.
My friend in DC bought tix for this game at 52 a pop and sold them for 110...people really wanna see this kid pitch tonight
"Okay, kid...just go out there, do what you do. Throw strikes, keep the ball down, and eliminate the stigma of 40 years of shitty, shitty baseball. Go get 'em, Tiger!"
Tonight is just unfair. He's basically pitching against another AAA lineup. He was promoted, but he isn't facing a major league lineup quite yet.
he's fanned six of the last seven hitters he's faced, starting with L-Millz to end the first. 3 innings, 1 hit, no walks, 6 Ks
it's on mlb tv also streams: http://atdhe.net/16861/watch-pirates-vs-nationals http://atdhe.net/17441/watch-pirates-vs-nationals
11 K's through 6. I wonder how many years until Strasburg wants out of Washington because they can't score?
Strasburg with 14 K's, including his last 7 in a row, through 7. He's thrown 94 pitches, leads 4-2, and is due up first in the bottom of the inning.
