Major League Baseball 2010

[sahyder1]

Yeah, he's already hit 100 MPH a couple of times and his curve looks absolutely nasty.

and he pitches quickly. I don't know if that is because of having some nerves here on debut but he takes the ball and throws it.

[HailtotheYo]

On behalf of everyone else that cares about baseball, would you two take the dickwaving contest somewhere else? For fuck's sake.

According to sahyder1 ... he speaks for you.

Strasburg is fucking filthy. I love the camera angle behind the plate that really puts perspective on how hard he throws.

What I don't like, is the ump squeezing him like he had in the first two innings. So far it looks like he's going to widen it a bit as he actually gets the feel for Strasburg's location.

Perfect job by the Nats on this debut.

[livid]

On behalf of everyone else that cares about baseball, would you two take the dickwaving contest somewhere else? For fuck's sake.

According to sahyder1 ... he speaks for you.

Let it fucking go already, damn.

[HailtotheYo]

I'm sorry but there was more to my post. Your fault you only concentrated on the first sentence.

LOL at Rob Dibble's commentary. Listening to him talk about how he shouldn't be legging it out to first base is awesome. It's like it's his kid out there or something.

They've got this kid on a strict pitch count ... but what if he keeps up this strikeout rate ? Do you leave him in and give his a shot at 20+ ?

[sahyder1]

On behalf of everyone else that cares about baseball, would you two take the dickwaving contest somewhere else? For fuck's sake.

According to sahyder1 ... he speaks for you.

Grow up already. Since when does "majority" imply everyone?

[quote name='HailtotheKing' date='08 June 2010 - 07:44 PM' timestamp='1276040645' post='2051844'

They've got this kid on a strict pitch count ... but what if he keeps up this strikeout rate ? Do you leave him in and give his a shot at 20+ ?

[naiwf]

They've got this kid on a strict pitch count ... but what if he keeps up this strikeout rate ? Do you leave him in and give his a shot at 20+ ?

No. The last thing they need is to have more comparisons to Kerry Wood. From everything I read/heard they would never even consider letting him go beyond 6 because they also have a strict inning count. It's a good thing he gave up a hit already, so they didn't have to worry about any potential second guessing.

EDIT: After dominating through 3, he's losing now.

Edited June 8, 2010 by naiwf

[sahyder1]

The Orioles are going to need to make a big splash soon. They are losing the market to the Nationals. Them being down 7-0 in 3rd inning on the biggest night in Nationals history isn't helping them much either. At least Angelos gets the Nationals MASN money!

[livid]

I'm sorry but there was more to my post. Your fault you only concentrated on the first sentence.

Wow, seriously?

It's not like I was taking the quote out of context or anything. I only quoted that sentence because that was the only part I was responding to. And the fact that you had more to your post doesn't eliminate the fact that you took a completely unnecessary shot at sahyder about something you were asked to let go.

[HailtotheYo]

Grow up already. Since when does "majority" imply everyone?

You're the one that kept saying "we" like you were speaking on behalf of the majority of MLB fans everywhere.

Riggelman was on with Mike Francesa earlier and he said they'd like to him him to around 90 pitches and 6 innings. If the count was low enough though they'd consider sending him out for 7th. You have to be drunk, high or both to think he's getting anywhere near 20.

Considering at the time I asked, he had 6K's through 9 batters ... it really wasn't out of the question.

Wow, seriously?

It's not like I was taking the quote out of context or anything. I only quoted that sentence because that was the only part I was responding to. And the fact that you had more to your post doesn't eliminate the fact that you took a completely unnecessary shot at sahyder about something you were asked to let go.

Please, continue to act like that was a one way discussion. We've been going back and forth in case you hadn't noticed. He's taken underhanded shots at me in this little discussion as well. And uh, he did in fact on more than one occassion say "we" as though he spoke for most other baseball fans. He even said it himself. There's also the fact that I took the shot .... before you asked.

So he hangs a change and Delwyn Young puts it just over the wall. He learns a valuable lesson. I like that he's changed up his approach from inning to inning. This kid can be flat out amazing considering that he's already got this much control of his breaking stuff this young. Randy Johnson didn't explode until he was finally able to use his slider. Strasburg has three fastballs that move, a change that moves, and a dirty breaking ball .... already. Wow, just wow. He also varies the speed on his fastball with a 6-10 MPH difference.

and he just hit 101 in the 6th. Jesus.

[sahyder1]

You're the one that kept saying "we" like you were speaking on behalf of the majority of MLB fans everywhere.

Damn. You don't give up do you? Does someone need to come in here and define "majority" for you?

Considering at the time I asked, he had 6K's through 9 batters ... it really wasn't out of the question.

Uh...yes it was. Unless you were expecting him to get those next 14Ks on 42 pitches.

11 Ks through 6 for the kid tonight. 81 pitches. Very impressive. One more inning max for him. In case you were wondering though this via a baseball writer.... "Only pitcher in past 80 years to go 6 or fewer innings in debut and still strike out 11 was Tim Hudson, 6-8-99 (11 in 5 IP)."

[Guest Mr. Potato Head]

I'm very bored of this HTTK/sahyder stuff and apparently I can warn people in here. Let's try and keep the talk just to baseball.

[Maxx]

.

Edited June 9, 2010 by Mr. Potato Head

[Guest Mr. Potato Head]

Maxx, I assume you were writing that as I made my post, so I'll give you ten minutes to edit it.

[HailtotheYo]

Good to see the lineup pick the kid up. I really hope the "town" can stay hot like this for a while. The Nats really have a good make up here ... and the majority of the key players are very young. Strasburg has definately given them a lift and they appear to be having fun with it tonight. It'd be great to see this momentum stay around a while and perhaps help them turn the corner and get competitive over the course of an entire season.

[sahyder1]

First guy since Johan Santana in 2007 to have 14K while giving up no walks. Absolutely dominating stuff. I know people are going to talk about it being against the Pirates but those people are stupid. This was a kid in his Major League debut in front of a sellout crowd and a national TV audience.

[Ananas]

That was awesome. Can't believe how lively that fastball is. 3 digits with serious break. I remember the curve ball from the draft video last year, but wow. He got behind a few times early in the game, but when he settled down his control was absolutely unbelievable. He was locating everywhere with everything. Didn't even really make a bad pitch on the home run, just a change-up at the bottom of the zone that Young put a good swing on. I expected him to get quite a few strikeouts and show signs of greatness to come. I didn't expect him to look like the absolute definition of a ace. With core guys like Zimmerman, Capps, Storen, Lannan, Strasburg and prospects like Desmond, Norris and now Harper on the way, the future is very bright in Washington. They even got a couple high upside pitching prospects in the draft in AJ Cole and Solis.

[naiwf]

I think what we saw tonight was the window for the 2006-present NY Mets slamming shut. At the rate things are going, they may end up being cellar dwellers for years to come as attendance is poor and the rest of the division keeps getting better.

Strasburg was filthy tonight and I look forward to somehow seeing a game where he pitches against Ubaldo Jimenez.

[sahyder1]

I think what we saw tonight was the window for the 2006-present NY Mets slamming shut. At the rate things are going, they may end up being cellar dwellers for years to come as attendance is poor and the rest of the division keeps getting better.

Strasburg was filthy tonight and I look forward to somehow seeing a game where he pitches against Ubaldo Jimenez.

I wouldn't go that far just yet. You guys will be in the race all year. Pelfrey has been rock solid. Santana is still there. Obviously a trade for another pitcher is key. Wright is just starting to get hot. Reyes is just starting to get going. Ike Davis looks better each day. Bay will hit. Barajas was an absolute steal. Hopefully they can get something out of Beltran. July 4th was the date mentioned on WFAN today.

That being said this division will be very competitive. And boy does it have some solid young players for the next decade between Stanton, Heyward, Strasburg and even Ike.

[naiwf]

I wouldn't go that far just yet. You guys will be in the race all year. Pelfrey has been rock solid. Santana is still there. Obviously a trade for another pitcher is key. Wright is just starting to get hot. Reyes is just starting to get going. Ike Davis looks better each day. Bay will hit. Barajas was an absolute steal. Hopefully they can get something out of Beltran. July 4th was the date mentioned on WFAN today.

That being said this division will be very competitive. And boy does it have some solid young players for the next decade between Stanton, Heyward, Strasburg and even Ike.

I don't think the Mets have the pieces to trade for a meaningful starter, and they can't add payroll if the attendance continues to be as bad as it's been. When you consider the money they've wasted on Perez & Maine and the fact that they've gotten no production from Beltran their record is far better than it should be, but you've got to assume the Phillies will remember how to hit eventually and unless the Mets get SOMETHING out of their 3-4-5 pitchers they can't sustain this pace.

[HailtotheYo]

Listening to ESPN980 this morning:

1 - The pitching coach for the Nats apparently has a common practice. No scouting reports for guys making their MLB debuts. He just sends them out there and lets them pitch. So last night it was all Pudge calling the game behind the plate and zero knowledge of the hitters on Strasburg's part. So the kid fanned 14 in 7 ... without a scouting report. Holy shit. Oh, and he only shook Pudge off one time. The first pitch. Pudge wanted him to throw the curve and make every poop. Strasburg said no, I'm gassing the fuck out of it.

2 - Yeah it was the Pirates, but honestly the Nationals scheduled Strasburg's call up (and subsequent starts) very well. His next start is against Cleveland. They projected on 980 this morning and the "toughest on paper" team he should face is the White Sox. That's about as smart as you can get. He's facing MLB batters without being put into situations in which he can't learn on the mound. He doesn't have to worry about the lineups or anything like that. He can just concentrate on going out and learning to pitch. Even if he does screw up (which he will) the teams he's facing won't be able to/likely to pounce on him as well as others. He'll build confidence as well. Great job of planning.

3 - Apparently the MASN2 gun and the gun in the park were off, quite a bit. While MASN2 showed 102 a couple of times, he never got higher than 101 in the park. Many of the 100 fastballs on MASN2 were 98/99 in the park. Just a curious note.

4 - They are raving about his composure and how he handles himself. In the first inning he tried to bite the corners and wasn't getting the calls. Didn't phase him. Supposedly in the dugout after the first inning he went to Pudge and asked if he was really missing that bad, or if it was just the strikezone. Pudge told him to try the inside corner to guys instead of the outside. Strasburg just nodded his head (that's from the radio guys so). He went out and did it and the ump opened up the strike zone for him as the game moved along. He also didn't question Pudge or get antsy, or anything. He listened, asked questions to understand, and just went about business.

5 - Video breakdown has shown that his 98-100 fastball moved anywhere from 1 to 4 inches. His "slow" fastball (94-97) moved anywhere from 3-5 inches. His changeup (minus the one to Delwyn Young) moved anywhere from 4-8 inches. The curve ? Yeah, up to 2 feet. I'm not sure what metric they used to figure out those movements but any way they did it, the man's 100 mph fastball is moving like a tight slider and it only gets more wicked from there.

6 - They broke down the core of the team. Holy f'n shit. These guys could get real good, really quickly. The pitching prospects have been known for a few years as they started out building that base. Had Zimmerman not been hurt last year everybody would be on the boat about him. They've now added Desmond to the mix and are really only looking for a younger outfielder to try and match with this group. You've got Storen/Clippard in the bullpen. Lannan/Strasburg in the rotation now, and they've still got Detwiler (hip surgery) in the wings as well (Matt Chico/Collin Balestar/Craig Staamen are all still around too). Desmond/Zimmerman in the infield. The jury is still out on Bernadina as a long term guy, but if he pans out that's another one. All of those guys are 26 or younger.