Jun 9, 2010

Phenom

Future Hall of Famer Stephen Strasburg (I'm only kidding a little bit here)

Well, he was everything he was supposed to be.  And frankly, quite a bit more.  Sure, he threw that one mistake to Delwyn Young, but otherwise...he was awesome!  100 mph fastball with movement.  A curveball that mere mortals can only bend with a wiffle ball.  And a change-up that just disappeared into the catcher's mitt leaving the hitters shaking their heads.  After it was all said and done, 7 innings pitched, 2 earned runs, 14 strikeouts (!!!) and zero, as in none, walks.

This guy is good!

Read all about it here or here or here
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Note: Remember to play the Badgerdaddy Trivia Challenge every day. Too bad he pitches for the Nats.

9 comments:

RW said...

The Flubs had a phenom too a few years back named Kerry Woods. They said the arm wasn't meant to do those things. We'll see.

I'd love it if this guy lasted, though. I came from the Bob Gibson / Sandy Koufax era. So when I hear announcers say a pitcher with a 4.37 ERA is soooooo good I want to just hurl.

Verdant Earl said...

RW - Then you have to be loving what Ubaldo Jimenez is doing this year in Colorado. His stats are just plain sick. 11-1 with a 0.93 ERA. Bob Gibson from 1968 is jealous of those numbers. (Fun fact...Jimenez' ERA+ - a stat that measures his ERA vs the rest of the league - is 483. Gibson in 1968 was only 268. To help put it in perspective, the best ERA+ for a full season was Pedro Martinez' 2000 season with a 291. What Jimenez is doing this year is legendary!)

RW said...

Yes. But it wasn't just Gibson. Just on a quick look at the almanac, how deep will 2010 run? My copypasta of the final leaders from both leagues in 68 reads like this;

Gibson (STL) 1.12
Tiant (CLE) 1.60
McDowell (CLE) 1.81
McNally (BAL) 1.95
McLain (DET) 1.96
John (CHW) 1.98
Bolin (SFG) 1.99
Veale (PIT) 2.05
Bahnsen (NYY) 2.05
Koosman (NYM) 2.08
Blass (PIT) 2.12
Drysdale (LAD) 2.15
Seaver (NYM) 2.20
Washburn (STL) 2.26
Nash (OAK) 2.28
Horlen (CHW) 2.37
Marichal (SFG) 2.43

And you know from what I speak when we hear broadcasters talk about a 4 ERA pitcher like he's some kind of God. Yes the set-up has moved back to the hitters since 68 but still.

When it gets as deep as this I'll buy into the return to the year of the pitcher. We'll have to see at year-end.

Verdant Earl said...

RW - I love 1968 as well. But it was a bit of a farce. Huge strike zone (I would love to see today's strike zone expanded) and uber-steep pitching mounds. I love seeing pitchers excel DESPITE a lower mound and smaller strike zone. Tom Seaver in 1971. Ron Guidry in 1978. Dwight Gooden in 1985. Greg Maddux through most of the 1990's. Pedro from 1997-2003. Zack Greinke in 2009. And yeah, Ubaldo in 2010. Those are the masters. Playing a rigged game and still dominating. I dig that.

Heff said...

I actually heard about this guy. Pretty impressive.

I'm guessing the "Quiz Your Friends" test DIDN'T lock up your system this time ?

Kevin McKeever said...

SS had some mega-movement on all his pitches. I actually had to all in my son to watch how every thing zipped and bent and dipped.

Too bad he didn't run hard in his 1st AB -- he would have also had his first hit. Kids - let that be a lesson to ya.

sybil law said...

Once again, my best comment for this is
GO REDS!
Haha
I am such a freaking girl.

Water Logged Canine said...

*snore*

Verdant Earl said...

Heff - Nope...sailed thru just fine.

Uncool - Yeah, but that may have been the one time in history that a coach was kinda glad a player of his didn't bust it down the line. I don't think they wanted him running the bases in his first outing.

Sybil - And a Reds fan, apparently. :)

Doggie - Oh, was there a basketball game on somewhere last night. I must have missed that.