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★★★
Stephen Strasburg is not having a fun time in 2015. His nightmare season took another disappointing turn Friday night as the former No. 1 overall pick and top prospect was forced to leave the game just six batters in. Although all parties involved insisted that Strasburg’s struggles so far this season haven’t been injury related, he was noticeably uncomfortable on Friday and word eventually came down that it was neck tightness that ailed him.
Things just keep getting worse and worse this season for one of the most hyped young pitchers in the last 20 years. Nine starts into this campaign, Strasburg is averaging just under five innings per outing with a 6.50 ERA. On the plus side, his peripherals tell a much better story than his ERA does. But with that being said, he’s giving up a ton of hard contact, which will always lead to a pitcher underperforming relative to his peripherals.
Even despite these extreme struggles, the Nationals still find themselves atop the National League East Division with the seventh-best record in all of baseball. The MVP-caliber performance from Bryce Harper has led a top-five offense. The pitching also finds itself just outside the top-five despite Strasburg’s poor performance, in large part due to Max Scherzer pitching like a guy who just signed a $200 million contract. There’s still a lot of season left, though, and if the Nationals are going to continue to live up to their sky-high expectations, they’ll need Strasburg to get healthy and pitch like the Strasburg of old.
- Josh Hamilton reminded Steven Wright and the rest of the league that he’s still a damn good hitter.
- It was a simpler time in 2009, with the country being swept away by Avatar and Party in the U.S.A. Some hitters have apparently missed this year more than others.
- We’re still two months away from the trade deadline, but it appears the Cubs already have their top target picked out.
- Chad Bettis’ near no-hitter on Friday notwithstanding, the Rockies pitching staff has been as poor as we expected. What has hurt this team the most has been the lousy seasons from superstars Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez.
- Remember in April when Corey Kluber looked like he wouldn’t live up to his amazing 2014 season? Yeah, he’s put those worries out of everyone’s head with a record-setting May.
- The one positive of going through a season as terrible as the Diamondbacks went through last season is getting the top overall pick in the draft. Has that pick worked out in the last 10 years, though?
- Seattle has had a frustrating year considering the expectations they carried coming into the season. A huge reason for this has been an inability to hit with runners in scoring position.
- Eduardo Rodriguez provided a much needed spark in Boston’s rotation, and he’ll be getting another start next week. He’s earned that much.
- As we all expected, a rotation featuring David Price and Justin Verlander is being led by Alfredo Simon.
- The Twins have been one of the most fun and surprising teams in baseball through the first two months of the season. Whether they stay at this level is almost secondary.
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