Stephen Strasburg Dominates In Debut With Washington Nationals

Stephen Strasburg Debuts in dominating fashion for the Washington Nationals.

Stephen Strasburg, the 21-year-old right-handed phenom, had his debut outing for the Washington Nationals tonight. And what a debut it was!. Strasburg struck out 14 batters in seven innings against the Pittsburgh Pirates. He threw 95 pitches with 65 of them being strikes and did not walk a batter. Not only did he have electric stuff, but he had great control as well. It is not surprising that the Pirates' batters had no luck against Strasburg as he routinely reached the high 90s and sometimes 100 mph with his fastball and had a curveball that looked impossible to hit going for him. Strasburg's only mistake was a changeup that Delwyn Young hit for a two-run home run. I think the Nationals will be alright with that one mistake after the showcase Strasburg put on tonight.

Strasburg was drafted No. 1 overall by the Nationals in last year's draft pick and had a ton of hype even when he was in high school. With all the hype that surrounded Strasburg, his performance tonight just shows how talented and mentally tough he is. There have been many other "phenoms" who have flamed out either because they did not have the right intangibles such as mental toughness and desire to win or they were just overhyped. With tonight's debut, Nationals fans and management can rest assured that all of the hype over Strasburg has been warranted. With that said, it is only one game and it was against the Pirates. We still need to see if he can pitch like he did tonight for an extended period of time. I for one hope that he does live up to the hype as he has electric stuff and it would be nice to see the Nationals who have been cellar dwellers finally play well.

What do you think of Stephen Strasburg's debut with the Nationals? Do you think Strasburg will live up to the hype?