Much-anticipated debut comes against Pirates
Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg makes his major league debut Tuesday night, throwing the first few of an expected 100 innings this summer.
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That translates to anywhere between 15 and 18 starts before Washington’s front office likely ends his season in early September, a small portion of the team’s remaining 104 games. There is, after all, only so much one starting pitcher — throwing every fifth day — can do for a club. But when that player is as gifted as the 21-year-old Strasburg, the impact goes far beyond a few extra wins over the next three months.
“Let’s not sugar-coat this,” said Nats general manager Mike Rizzo, who drafted Strasburg with the No. 1 overall pick last June. “It’s a huge day in our franchise’s history. We’ve got Stephen Strasburg with his major league debut, and we’re picking [Rounds 2 through 15] in a vital draft that could have ramifications for this franchise for years.”
It is doubtful any player chosen on the second day of this year’s draft ever will endure the scrutiny Strasburg faces Tuesday. A sellout crowd and more than 200 credentialed reporters will be at Nationals Park to watch a team that has lost more than 100 games in back-to-back years play the woeful Pittsburgh Pirates.
Often irrelevant in their own city before this season — the local television ratings were by far the worst for any baseball team in 2008 and 2009 — the Nats now boast a player known across the country even before tossing his first big league pitch. Not even Ryan Zimmerman, arguably the sport’s best third baseman, carries that kind of national appeal — and he is an All-Star and has been the face of Washington’s franchise since he made his own debut late in the 2005 season.
“I’ve never accepted that title,” said Zimmerman, a Virginia Beach native. “I think there’s a lot of us in here that are a big part of this organization. I was just born closest to here.”
So Zimmerman says he is more than willing to share the label. But is Strasburg ready to accept his part of it? A self-described homebody who married his college girlfriend during the offseason, Strasburg employs an all-business persona in front of microphones and digital recorders. He is a star solely on the basis of his overwhelming performance on the field, both in college at San Diego State and through 11 minor league starts with the Nats. He is not a personality.
“[Strasburg] doesn’t really like the attention or want special treatment, and I think guys respect that,” said teammate Drew Storen, himself drafted last June and already in the majors as a relief pitcher. “He’s one of those guys that goes around and picks the brains of other people. He’s even asking me questions, and I’m just like, ‘I don’t understand why you’re asking me anything.'”
