This afternoon, the Phillies will face a pitcher on the mound for the Nats that is believed to be the ace of the team. This pitcher was the first overall pick in the 2009 MLB draft and immediately a sense of hype developed around him. Stephen Strasburg will take the mound for the Washington Nationals today.
Is Stephen Strasburg living up to all of the hype that surrounded him when the Nationals brought him up to the bigs a couple of years ago?
In five seasons so far with the Nationals, Strasburg has a 36-28 record. This season, Strasburg has struggled with a 7-9 record with a 3.55 ERA in 23 games so far.
In 2012, Strasburg was his best so far of his career, 15-6 with a 3.16 ERA. That season was the year after the surgery that he needed to repair the torn ligament in his pitching arm, known as Tommy John surgery.
The injury happened to Strasburg when he was on the mound in Philadelphia, pitching in a game against the Phillies on August 21, 2010 when after he threw a pitch, he kind of reacted like he knew something was really wrong. It reminded me of seeing Cliff Lee do the same thing on the mound the other night.
Here’s some more of Strasburg’s career numbers:
| Year | Age | Tm | W | L | G | IP | SO | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 21 | WSN | 5 | 3 | .625 | 2.91 | 12 | 68.0 | 92 | 12.2 |
| 2011 | 22 | WSN | 1 | 1 | .500 | 1.50 | 5 | 24.0 | 24 | 9.0 |
| 2012 ★ | 23 | WSN | 15 | 6 | .714 | 3.16 | 28 | 159.1 | 197 | 11.1 |
| 2013 | 24 | WSN | 8 | 9 | .471 | 3.00 | 30 | 183.0 | 191 | 9.4 |
| 2014 | 25 | WSN | 7 | 9 | .438 | 3.55 | 23 | 144.1 | 167 | 10.4 |
| 5 Yrs | 36 | 28 | .563 | 3.11 | 98 | 578.2 | 671 | 10.4 | ||
| 162 Game Avg. | 12 | 10 | .563 | 3.11 | 34 | 201 | 233 | 10.4 | ||
As you can see, Strasburg has had 167 strikeouts so far this year, and he’s been averaging 10.4 strikeouts per game this year. He has 7 no-decisions so far this season.
Here is a few of the teams that have been able to hit Strasburg well this season, from the most runs scored against him, the Phillies are up there at number 3 best against him, the Brewers and Braves have also hit him hard.
| Split | G | AB ▾ | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | SO | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WP of .500+ | 11 | 267 | 36 | 72 | 17 | 1 | 8 | 14 | 72 | .270 |
| WP lt .500 | 12 | 292 | 31 | 75 | 12 | 1 | 6 | 18 | 95 | .257 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 2 | 47 | 11 | 15 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 11 | .319 |
| Atlanta Braves | 2 | 49 | 10 | 17 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 14 | .347 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 3 | 75 | 9 | 20 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 25 | .267 |
| Miami Marlins | 3 | 66 | 8 | 15 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 21 | .227 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 2 | 48 | 5 | 12 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 14 | .250 |
| Colorado Rockies | 2 | 50 | 5 | 14 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 13 | .280 |
| New York Mets | 1 | 21 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 10 | .238 |
| Inter-League | 2 | 50 | 4 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 18 | .200 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 1 | 24 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 7 | .292 |
| Arizona Diamondbacks | 1 | 29 | 3 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | .276 |
| Texas Rangers | 1 | 25 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | .240 |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 1 | 28 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | .250 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 1 | 25 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | .240 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 1 | 25 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9 | .160 |
| San Francisco Giants | 1 | 21 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | .190 |
| San Diego Padres | 1 | 26 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 11 | .269 |
