Prior, Lincecum had some early struggles
Maybe in this age of media saturation Nationals rookie Stephen Strasburg has received more overall attention than previous pitching phenoms. But he is hardly the first to make an anticipated debut.
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Chicago Cubs pitcher Mark Prior also breezed through the minor leagues and made his first big league start at age 21 in 2002. In a game at Wrigley Field, Prior went six innings against Pittsburgh and allowed just two runs on four hits. In his third start 10 days later, he was shelled by Houston for seven runs and didn’t make it out of the fourth inning. The lesson? Don’t expect too much too soon.
San Francisco ace Tim Lincecum had even better numbers in the minors than Strasburg and has more than lived up to that initial promise with two National League Cy Young Awards since his 2007 debut. Against the Phillies that season, Lincecum — then 23 — gave up five runs on five hits and walked five. Philadelphia also hit two homers and he left in the fifth inning of an 8-5 loss. That’s hardly the stuff of legends.
“What I tell Stephen is ‘It’s an exciting day for any major leaguer to make your debut,'” Nats general manager Mike Rizzo said. “It’s a unique process with Stephen — all the excitement and hype that comes with that. But he needs to focus on winning Tuesday. Once the first pitch is thrown, the hype of Stephen Strasburg becomes ‘Can he win us a ballgame?'”
There is no choice for Strasburg but to adapt quickly to the circus environment. Tampa Bay chose a different path for 2007 No. 1 pick David Price, who raced through three minor league levels in five months and had just turned 23 when used out of the bullpen late in 2008. He gave up two runs in 5 1/3 innings against the Yankees in his first appearance. Within six weeks Price was pitching in the World Series in relief.
