Stephen Strasburg’s second minor-league rehabilitation start was so dominant, so efficient that when he was finished he needed to go back out to the bullpen for a few extra pitches.
The Nationals couldn’t hope for more than that. Strasburg, pitching in Single-A for the Potomac Nationals, the team’s Carolina League affiliate, needed just 33 pitches to make it through three innings against the Myrtle Beach Pelicans. He struck out five batters and threw 26 of them for strikes. When he walked off the mound after fielding a hard comebacker up the middle and under-handing the throw to first base, the sellout crowd of 8,619 fans gave him a standing ovation.
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It was a miniature version of Strasburg’s memorable big-league debut last summer at Nationals Park, helped in part by the location – nearby Woodbridge, Va., where the Potomac Nationals play their games at Pfitzner Stadium.
“I know I’m going to be the pitcher that I was,” Strasburg said. “I strongly feel the work that I’ve put in is going to make me even better. It’s only a matter of time. And today was just another step in the process. In five days I’m going to do it again.”
Last Sunday, Strasburg made his return from Tommy John surgery at low-A Hagerstown, going 1 2/3 innings with 31 pitches, 26 of them strikes. He appears ready for the next step on Aug. 17 – either a return engagement at Hagerstown or a start at Triple-A Syracuse. Both teams are at home that night, a condition the Nats’ front office wants for each of Strasburg’s outings.
Myrtle Beach leads the Carolina League in runs scored, but the Pelicans batters were overmatched against Strasburg. He was more willing to use his curveball then he did in his first start. But his fastball proved unhittable. Myrtle Beach put three runners on base – but two of them came on weak infield singles and another was an error on Potomac second baseman Jeff Kobernus. Strasburg sat between 95 and 98 miles-per-hour with his fastball and hit 99 once.
“He was down in the zone,” Potomac manager Matt LeCroy, a former catcher in the major leagues. “He commanded the fastball, moved the ball in and out. Breaking ball was pretty good. He gave up three infield singles and from a former [big-league] catcher looked pretty good.”
Strasburg’s breaking ball was consistently sharp, resulting in one of his strikeouts. He also broke out his change-up this time – if you can call a 90 miles-per-hour pitch a change. He struck out leadoff batter Leury Garcia with a fastball clocked by the stadium radar gun at 98. Vincent DiFazio had no chance at his fastball that hit 99 to lead off the second. A pair of change-ups got Garcia and Jared Bolden in the third before the one-pitch comebacker ended it. Strasburg was fine with finishing his night early. He simply went out to the bullpen and threw another 17 pitches to reach his limit of 50.
Potomac catcher Sandy Leon had caught Strasburg two years ago during the organization’s annual instructional league held every September and October at its spring-training complex in Viera, Fla. That version was Strasburg in a more raw form – before he pitched in the Arizona Fall League, before he tore through the minors and before his dominating summer with Washington before tearing his right ulnar collateral ligament last August.
“He’s got more experience,” Leon said. “He control every pitch, change-up, breaking ball, fastball. That’s what’s different.”
