Strasburg’s first start nearly a masterpiece
A day later, it still was hard to believe Nationals rookie pitcher Stephen Strasburg lived up to all of the advanced publicity before his first major league start.
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His performance was the biggest story in baseball, with national writers and reporters from television networks across the country flocking in droves to Nationals Park. They saw firsthand a seven-inning, 14-strikeout, two-run effort that almost overshadowed an NBA Finals game between the Lakers and Celtics.
Before the game, Strasburg’s agent, Scott Boras, compared his player’s talent to a great artist — a Picasso, a Chagall. It sounded like pure hype — except that the performance actually matched it.
“That game,” Boras said with a smile in the interview room afterward, “was a Strasburg.”
Washington first baseman Adam Dunn wore a bemused smile on his face after watching Strasburg mow down the Pittsburgh Pirates. But he also acknowledged the team doesn’t expect — or even need — Strasburg to be that good every time out. The Pirates enter play Wednesday with the lowest team batting average and the fewest runs scored in baseball. Still, Strasburg was dominant. Pirates players were equally stunned.
“The only guy I saw with that kind of stuff was [former Nats pitcher] John Patterson before he got injured,” Pittsburgh reliever Javier Lopez said. “I saw him coming out of high school and with the Diamondbacks — plus fastball and everything else.”
Patterson, of course, is the man who previously held the Nats’ record for strikeouts in a single game before Strasburg snatched it away Tuesday night. Patterson struck out 13 Dodgers on Aug. 4, 2005, but arm injuries ended his career early.
Strasburg was an equal-opportunity strikeout artist Tuesday. Seven Pirates batters went down against his blazing fastball. His final four fastballs registered 98, 98, 99 and 99 mph. But he also used a wicked curveball four times and struck out another three batters with a 90 mph change-up that is almost unheard of even at the major league level.
“I don’t want to let [strikeouts] change they way I approach hitters,” Strasburg said. “Bottom line is wanting to execute the majority of my pitches the way I can. Strikeouts are more of an accident than anything.”
