Stephen Strasburg The Real Deal?

Never in Major League Baseball Draft history did it feel like the NFL, NBA or NHL draft, but in 2009 that all changed. For the first time, people actually wanted to watch the first round of the MLB draft, and for the first time they actually could, because the first round was aired on MLB Network. The reason that it was aired on TV was because Stephen Strasburg was projected to go 1st overall in the draft. The hype surrounding Stephen Strasburg was rivaling that of any player taken number 1 overall in any of the other professional sport drafts. Strasburg was taken number 1 overall by the Washington Nationals.

For those who don't no much about Strasburg, you might want to keep your eye on him, but he is dubbed by many in baseball as the greatest college-pitching prospect in the history of baseball. He is a right-handed pitcher, whose fastball ranges between 95mph and 100mph on average and he also has a very good curve ball ranging between 79mph and 81mph. He is as close as a "can’t miss prospect" then anyone has ever been, though he only pitched 3 years at San Diego State University, he made his last 2 count. In his sophomore year he finished at 8-3 with a ridiculous 1.57 ERA and 133 strikeouts in 97 and one-third innings. His sophomore season was what really put him on the map as possibly being a high draft pick. But it was his junior year that cemented him at the number overall pick in the 2009 MLB draft. You thought his sophomore year numbers were nuts, he finished his junior year 13-1 with a better ERA standing at 1.32 and a outrageous amount of strikeouts, finishing with 195 strikeouts in only 109 innings which is a 10 strikeouts per 9 innings which for those who do not know is absolutely amazing.

Before the 2010 MLB season, where Strasburg would begin the season was a big topic, because you had many people saying that he is ready to pitch in the big leagues and then you have people saying that yea his stuff is defiantly pro ready but he is mature enough to pitch in the pros. What they mean by being mature enough to pitch in the pros is we don't know how Strasburg will handle defeat. Granted he has lost before in his career but he has always been the big fish in the little pond, now he will be on the same playing field as everyone else. The Nationals decided to start Strasburg in the minor leagues, and the result has been the same. Whether it was Double-A or Triple-A, Strasburg has still been light outs, he didn't allow a run, earned or unearned, until his 4th start in Triple-A.

The real question is, is Strasburg ready to pitch in the big leagues. Many pitchers who have been rushed to the bigs have failed miserably, the odds are completely against him, but again no other pitcher has had the stuff he does and the numbers to back it up. It will be interesting to see how he does, but I believe he will win 20 games in the future and win a Cy Young award in his career. But it will not be easy for Strasburg to do that, because remember he does play for the Nationals and even though they have a bright future they have along way to go to be a contender in the National League, but drafting Strasburg was a step in the right direction. The sky is the limit for the kid and if he keeps his head on straight and does and says all the right things, he has an extremely bright future.

On May 26th, the Nationals announced to MLB Network that Strasburg's first major league start would be in June against the Pittsburgh Pirates, those dates are June 8th, 9th or 10th, mark your calendars.

Let me know what you guys think Strasburg will do when he comes up, and how do you see his career going? Thanks for the input.