Strasburg Makes Incredible MLB Debut

There was just a little bit of pressure on the 21-year old right-hander, Stephen Strasburg, when he took the mound for his Major League Baseball debut.  The entire country was in a craze over the kid, especially the die-hard Washington National fans that have never seen this kind of commotion.  Many columnists, reporters and anchors were saying they had never seen this much anticipation for a debut.

Strasburg, however, took it all in stride.  He not only got the 4-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates, but dominated, throwing fastballs clocked at 100 mph, and curve balls that had the Pirates completely confused on his way to striking out 14 batters.  Striking out 14 batters ties the high for the MLB season, and recording the most strikeouts in a big league debut since J.R. Richard struck out 15 batters back in 1971 for Houston (SI.com).  He only allowed 2 earned runs, only 4 hits, didn't walk a batter, struck out every player at least once in the Pirates batting order, and struck out the last seven batters he faced. Future Hall of Famer, Ivan Rodriguez, who caught the game for Strasburg said through SI.com, "I've been catching a lot of guys, but this kid is unbelievable."  A pitcher really couldn't get a better compliment, especially from a catcher of Rodriguez' caliber.

One would have to say he went above and beyond any expectations for him.  With performances like this his future will be more than bright.