Well, Stephen Strasburg is certainly worthy of the hype - and then some.
The first overall pick of the 2009 MLB Draft pitched an absolute gem in winning his major league debut. He pitched 7 innings and gave up just 2 runs on 4 hits and his 14 strikeouts were just one shy of the Major League record for a pitcher's first appearance. Better yet, he didn't yield a single walk. And somehow, incredibly, he pitched even better than his box score looks. That's because of the way Strasburg pitched. He was dominate. He was in control. He was like nothing I have ever seen. Let's break down what made him so special.
Because I have nothing better to do on a Tuesday night (it was either the game or GLEE), I charted every pitch Strasburg threw today - all 94 of them. The 6-4, 220-pound righthander throws three pitches: a fastball, curveball and changeup. Here's a detailed look at each pitch:
FASTBALL
Like most pitchers, Strasburg actually throws two types of fastballs - a two seamer and four seamer. However, unlike the vast majority of pitchers I have ever seen, there is almost no difference in velocity between the two. Typically, a two seam fastball is 3-4mph slower than the four seam variety, but not with Strasburg. He was blowing by hitters with "rising" 97-100mph four-seam fastballs and painting the outside corner with darting 96-98 two-seam missiles. Strasburg threw 58 fastballs in the game (61.7% of his total pitches) and averaged an astonishing 97.9mph. Do you have any idea how ridiculous that is for a starting pitcher? Just to put that number in perspective, Colorado's phenom flame-thrower Ubaldo Jimenez is currently the fastest starting pitcher in all of baseball with an average fastball of 96.6mph. That is, he WAS the fastest, until Strasburg's arrival. That 1.3mph difference is huge, absolutely gigantic. And Strasburg throws his heater with precision as 69.0% of his fastballs were thrown for strikes. Now that we've demonstrated Strasburg's unparallelled velocity and deadly accuracy, let's see how his stamina holds up. Here's a breakdown of his average velocity in each inning:
INNING 1 - 98.0mph (8 fastballs)
INNING 2 - 98.4mph (12 fastballs)
INNING 3 - 97.8mph (5 fastballs)
INNING 4 - 96.6mph (9 fastballs)
INNING 5 - 98.1mph ((12 fastballs)
INNING 6 - 98.5mph (4 fastballs)
INNING 7 - 98.0mph (8 fastballs)
Yup, he holds up just fine. He had his best stuff in the second inning when he threw 100mph twice, the only two times he lit up the radar gun with triple digits. His only real dip in velocity came in the 4th inning, which was the only inning he had to worry about runners on base and pitched mostly out of the stretch. So that settles it - Strasburg has freakish velocity, control and stamina. The guy pitches like a robot.
CURVEBALL
Strasburg threw 25 curveballs in the game (26.6% of his total pitches) and good Lord it is a frightening pitch. His curveball averaged 82.1mph, ranging from 81-84mph throughout the night. The ball jumps out of his hand and darts down with a steep 1/7 angle (on a time clock - think 1 to 7). It just devastates lefthanded batters. By the time they swing, the ball is barrelling in on their ankles. What was really remarkable was the number of strikes Strasburg threw with his curve. Even when his fastball got away from him, which was rare, Strasburg could get his curve over for a strike. In fact, 72% of his curveballs were thrown for strikes - some fell in the zone, others dropped out of the sky and into the dirt, but hitters couldn't resist swinging anyway. Strasburg seemed to throw two types of curves. One was a "get-me-over" pitch, starting at the chest and dropping in for a strike, and the other was an other-worldly sweeping curve that looked like it broke three feet and ended up no where near the strike zone. Strasburg struck out 4 batters with this pitch. I have only seen this type of curve once in my lifetime before today - Kerry Wood threw the exact same curve as a rookie in 1998 before he hurt his arm and needed Tommy John surgery. Now let's get this straight - Kerry Wood had horrific mechanics. Strasburg has a much calmer, more controlled motion. That being said, enjoy him every chance you get because with pitchers you never really know if the next pitch might put them under the knife.
CHANGEUP
Can we really call Strasburg's changeup an "off-speed" pitch? He threw 11 total changeups in the ballgame and those pitches averaged 90.2mph - the average speed of a Major League fastball. Strasburg's changeup has the motion of a split-fingered fastball, it darts both away (to righthanded hitters) and drops out of the zone. Of his 11 changeups on the night, 3 resulted in swinging strikeouts. He did surrender a two-run homerun - his only runs of the game - on a changeup, but you can hardly call the pitch a mistake as it was low in the zone. Delwyn Young was way ahead of the pitch anticipating a fastball, swung like he was holding a five-iron and the barrel of his bat happened to meet the ball. Strasburg's change is a plus Major League pitch right now. With normal humans, even the greatest of pitchers, learning how to throw a changeup takes time and experience to master. Not with Strasburg. It's already a third plus pitch, to go along with his plus-plus fastball and curve.
So, what have we learned? I mean everyone already knew Strasburg was a great pitcher. He was great in college, great in the minors. Obviously, his track record indicates Major League stardom. Yes, everyone knew Strasburg was going to become a great pitcher. It's just that he doesn't need to BECOME anything. He IS a great pitcher. In fact, after a close study of his opening performance, he has the best combination of velocity, control, breaking pitches and stamina of any pitcher on the planet. Not down the line, not someday, not in the near future, but right now. At 21 years old and after one start in the big leagues it's not hyperbole to say that Stephen Strasburg is the best pitcher in all of baseball.
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