Watched: Stephen Strasburg

Well, probably every baseball blogger watched Strasburg's first start and is writing something about it. I guess it is a good enough story to bring me out of hibernation.

Everyone knows about the Strasburg hype by now: 100 mph fastball, hammer curve, and a sick changeup that just isn't fair. He brought all of those weapons to bear during Tuesday night's game. He seemed a little jittery at the start, getting behind each of the first two hitters, but he quickly turned on the dominance, getting six strikeouts in the first three innings.

And then he showed that he was mortal, giving up a two run homer in the fourth. But he settled back in and destroyed the Pirates lineup for the next three innings, striking out seven in a row at one point and finishing with fourteen strikeouts.

The only thing that limits Strasburg is his pitch count. Because he gets a lot of strikeouts, he ends up throwing a lot of pitches. The Nationals had him on a 90 pitch count on Tuesday and have stated that they will limit his number of innings this season. It is probably a smart move on their part for the long term health of Strasburg and only time will tell if he can physically hold up to the wear and tear of pitching in the major leagues. If he has the stamina to endure the high pitch counts and he stays healthy, he's got the ability to be the best pitcher in baseball for the foreseeable future. He showed on Tuesday that he's already got the stuff of a Cy Young candidate.