Stephen Strasburg Rookie Cards
June 9, 2010-Last night was the Major League debut of the Washington Nationals' phenom pitcher Stephen Strasburg and he did not disappoint. The kid went out there and pitched like a veteran super star hurler. Stephen Strasburg pitched 7 innings, allowing 4 hits and 2 earned runs. But the most impressive thing was that he had 14 strikeouts as the Washington Nationals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates by a score of 5-2.
Strasburg made the Pirates' hitters look like little leaguers as they swung and missed that 99 MPH fastball. He did have one hiccup as the Pirates Delwyn Young took him deep for a 2-run home run that gave the Pirates a brief 2-1 lead in the game. But Strasburg got some help from his offense as Adam Dunn crushed a 2-run home run to put the Nationals back up 3-2. Dunn's homer was followed by a solo shot by Josh Willingham to go back-to-back and put the Nats up 4-2. Stephen Strasburg got the win and is now 1-0 in his brief MLB career.
There was so much hype and media centered around last night's game. Karl Ravech and the ESPN Baseball Tonight gang were there to witness it and so too was Tony Gwynn. Gwynn was Stephen Strasburg's college coach at San Diego State. It is safe to say that the kid lived up to all of the hype. Now, let's not get crazy and put him in the hall-of-fame just yet because after all he was pitching against the Pirates. It will be fun to see Stephen Strasburg pitch against the Braves, Phillies or Mets. Those offenses have some pretty good hitters and it will be a challenge for the 21 year old right hander. I am looking forward to watching Strasburg pitch against another solid rookie in Jason Heyward. That will be a fun matchup to watch. But this night belonged to Stephen Strasburg. Look for his next start to be against the Cleveland Indians next sunday as the Nationals head into Interleague play.
