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Strasburg Relied On Stuff, Not Scouting Reports

Jun 9, 2010, 3:26 AM UTC

â†µWASHINGTONâ†µ-- The entire baseball world has spent months poring over Stephen â†µStrasburg’s every move, looking for the slightest fault to emerge in theâ†µrookie’s game, the slightest doubt that he won’t live up to his hefty â†µexpectations.â†µâ†µBut when it came to him scouting his first major â†µleague opponents, he wasn’t willing to reciprocate. After a commanding â†µmajor league debut in which he earned his first victory and struck out aâ†µfranchise-record 14 hitters, Strasburg admitted he hadn’t even read theâ†µscouting reports on the Pirates.â†µ

â†µâ†µImagine how well it would have gone if he had.â†µ

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â†µHeading into Tuesday’s start, Strasburg brought with him â†µoverwhelming expectations -- and brought the attention of the national â†µmedia to a team that barely has registered even with its hometown fans. â†µAfter seven innings in which he struck out every member of the Pirates â†µlineup at least once and walked none, he had justified all the hype and â†µwon over a sold-out Nationals Park crowd that came to see its promised â†µ"savior.”
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â†µ"He was very good, very poised, very electric," said Pirates left fielder Lastings Milledge, who was Strasburg’s first strikeout â†µvictim. "He spotted the ball very well, never really gave us anything weâ†µcould drive. He did a great job with all the fans and the noise."â†µ

â†µâ†µStrasburg fell behind in the count to the first two hitters he â†µfaced but found a way to get them out before striking out Milledge to â†µretire the Pirates in the first. Catcher Ivan Rodriguez said he thought â†µthe rookie was a little nervous at that point, but he was able to â†µcollect himself and strike out the side in the second. From there, â†µStrasburg got increasingly comfortable. Following a two-run homer by â†µDelwyn Young in the fourth inning, Strasburg didn’t allow another Pirateâ†µto reach base and struck out the final seven batters he faced.â†µ

â†µâ†µThird baseman Ryan Zimmerman, the face of the franchise since it â†µrelocated from Montreal in 2005, was content to cede the spotlight. “We â†µwant to be a great team and you need great players to get there. We haveâ†µtalent here, but we’re always looking for more,” Zimmerman said. “Good â†µfor him. He deserves it. It’s a great night for him and the â†µorganization.”â†µ

â†µâ†µZimmerman wasn’t without highlights of his own. He put the â†µNationals on the board first with a home run in the bottom of the first â†µinning, giving Washington an early lead and perhaps helping to calm â†µStrasburg.â†µ

â†µâ†µHaving been the first to tangle with Strasburg, Pirates hitters â†µwere left with the task of describing what they had just faced.â†µ

â†µâ†µ“His stuff was not like anything I haven’t seen before. A â†µcurveball is a curveball. But his location was superb,” said Pirates â†µcenter fielder Andrew McCutchen. “He located his pitches well. Any â†µpitcher that does that will be difficult to face, especially if they canâ†µthrow 95-plus on top of it.”â†µ

â†µâ†µSponsored link: Nationals tickets availableâ†µ

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This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.

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