OT: The Stephen Strasburg Thread

[tsherkin]

Not super Jays-related, but Stephen Strasburg will debut a week from today against the Pirates, according to the WT.

He was certainly filthy down in the minors, dominating at AA and AAA as expected. Now we get to see him in the majors.

Thoughts, comments?

[RapsFanInVA]

Finally something I can watch on my local sports broadcast that you guys can't! Suck it!

[youngLion]

Finally, the saviour of my fantasy team arrives!




I'm kidding. Nothing can save my fantasy team.

[Bank Shot]

Not a bad team to make your debut against. Barring any bad nerves, I expect him to be filthy.

[tsherkin]

Not a bad team to make your debut against. Barring any bad nerves, I expect him to be filthy.

I don't think he's going to have huge nervousness to deal with. I mean, he's coming in against a team that isn't elite, he's dominated at every level so far, he's got filthy stuff, he's got good command and a good approach to boot. He's probably going to be pretty nasty right away.

[J-Roc]

This should be OT.

Otherwise it's insane how much hype this guy has been getting. I've never been one to follow the minors. When was the last time a kid had this much hype? How about a pitcher? Is this was it was like for Doc Gooden or Roger Clemens?

[satyr9]

There have been prospects with this much hype, but because of super 2 status and delaying the arby clock, I don't think you've seen a pitcher with this much hype build two months of anticipation moving through the minors to the bigs. Someone like Gooden, or Mark Prior if you don't want to go that far back, were heralded as pitching Jesuses, but they didn't have the same progression to build a storyline for their first start, 'cause people were just called up to pitch when they were dominating, their teams didn't hold them back for financial reasons like they do now.

Now, I'm not a prospect hound like schad, met, or hoop, so maybe they'll tell me I'm wrong, but that's just my recollection and interpretation of how this has become such a massive storyline for the baseball season.

[Hoopstarr]

Yea, Prior is probably the last pitcher who came close to being this hyped. He's the previous holder of the signing bonus record before Strasburg broke it last year. Prior was pretty much identical to Strasburg in dominance coming out of college and would have been just as hyped if things like Twitter existed and blogs/forums were as popular.

Like satyr said, the super 2 stuff is what really builds up the hype even more and Strasburg and Prior (I'm assuming super 2 existed then too?) are two prime example of that. They were good enough to start on opening day but they had to wait a couple months to clear super 2 status. Chapman was supposed to start in Cincinnati too but they decided to wait after an injury.

Barring that, others have been just as hyped coming out of the draft. Josh Beckett was immediately compared to fellow Texan Roger Clemens, Phil Hughes got the Yankee treatment, David Price was the clear #1 in a great 2007 draft, and now Chapman. Among hitters, A-Rod, Teixeira, Justin Upton, Weiters, and now Harper.

[Avenger]

Another phenom got called up today. 20 year old, Mike Stanton of the Florida Marlins has been summoned directly from Double A where he was hitting 313/ 441/.726 /1167 and leads all of the Minor Leagues in long bombs.

[kelso]

Another phenom got called up today. 20 year old, Mike Stanton of the Florida Marlins has been summoned directly from Double A where he was hitting 313/ 441/.726 /1167 and leads all of the Minor Leagues in long bombs.

I got him on my fantasy team- I can't wait for him to start unloading. He will be hitting 4-hole on the Marlins behind Hanley Ramirez for the next 10 years....yes, I think hes that good.

[kiz5]

Strasburg will most likely be a top 10 pitcher by the start of next season. I really, really do think he's that good, and I've watched a fair bit of full game film. There's a reason why every scout expects him to be a superstar.

[tsherkin]

Mark Prior was pretty nasty before he got injured. I hope Strasburg can stay healthy.

[Strav]

Another phenom got called up today. 20 year old, Mike Stanton of the Florida Marlins has been summoned directly from Double A where he was hitting 313/ 441/.726 /1167 and leads all of the Minor Leagues in long bombs.

I got him on my fantasy team- I can't wait for him to start unloading. He will be hitting 4-hole on the Marlins behind Hanley Ramirez for the next 10 years....yes, I think hes that good.

should be a fun night yes with Stasburg and Stanton starting. Stanton will be hitting out of the 7th spot to start the first few weeks. I like his comparisons to Adam Dunn, and a number of people expect him to deliver the same production as he did back in 2001 in his debut season, meaning 20 homers and 50+ rbi's.

[LittleOzzy]

I wish a Canadian network would pick up this game.

[LBJSeizedMyID]

Yeah, I would've thought someone would've

[Avenger]

Another phenom got called up today. 20 year old, Mike Stanton of the Florida Marlins has been summoned directly from Double A where he was hitting 313/ 441/.726 /1167 and leads all of the Minor Leagues in long bombs.

I got him on my fantasy team- I can't wait for him to start unloading. He will be hitting 4-hole on the Marlins behind Hanley Ramirez for the next 10 years....yes, I think hes that good.

You might be dissapointed to be honest, he'll hit homeruns but his contact ability and approach at the plate isn't that great yet. The Marlins only did this to generate excitement and sell some tickets, its not because they believe he'll be a major contributor.

[tsherkin]

I'm bummed that the Nats/Pirates game isn't on. Not surprised, of course, but I don't have MLB.tv, so that sucks.

[Strav]

Another phenom got called up today. 20 year old, Mike Stanton of the Florida Marlins has been summoned directly from Double A where he was hitting 313/ 441/.726 /1167 and leads all of the Minor Leagues in long bombs.

I got him on my fantasy team- I can't wait for him to start unloading. He will be hitting 4-hole on the Marlins behind Hanley Ramirez for the next 10 years....yes, I think hes that good.

You might be dissapointed to be honest, he'll hit homeruns but his contact ability and approach at the plate isn't that great yet. The Marlins only did this to generate excitement and sell some tickets, its not because they believe he'll be a major contributor.

point me to an article that shares this opinion. He's a strikeout guy/.250 hitter, but lots and lots of power.

[Avenger]

I got him on my fantasy team- I can't wait for him to start unloading. He will be hitting 4-hole on the Marlins behind Hanley Ramirez for the next 10 years....yes, I think hes that good.

You might be dissapointed to be honest, he'll hit homeruns but his contact ability and approach at the plate isn't that great yet. The Marlins only did this to generate excitement and sell some tickets, its not because they believe he'll be a major contributor.

point me to an article that shares this opinion. He's a strikeout guy/.250 hitter, but lots and lots of power.

isn't that essentially what i said?

[J-Roc]

I'm bummed that the Nats/Pirates game isn't on. Not surprised, of course, but I don't have MLB.tv, so that sucks.

Anyone with a computer has MLB.tv