Well there ya have it! All of the months of speculation as to whether or not Strasburg would make a seamless transition to the Majors, and the kid comes out and smokes 14 batters immediately showing him to be a force to reckon with.
Against the Pirates on Tuesday, June 8th, the kid pitched a solid game ending with a 2.57 ERA, 0.57 WHIP, and his only mistake was technically a two run homerun shot to Delwyn Young.
Ok, so he is human after all.
So the obvious question that comes next is whether or not he is in line to do it again right? Well, you better believe he is.
Strasburg will pitch on a 5 day rotation until the AS break which will have him going against the White Sox, and Royals who are ranked 28th and 2nd in team batting respectively.
The Royals are not as good as their rank would suggest.
Strasburg has a total of four pitches in which he commands incredibly well; rare for a rookie, so he definitely has the ability. If Strasburg stays on this tangent he could be sporting roughly 40+ strikes in three games played, making him the top commodity in fantasy baseball.
MLB Quick Hits:
Want more pitching love? How about the recent and unexpected in some ways, success of Kevin Slowey (Twins), Jeff Niemann (Rays) and Mike Pelfrey (Mets)?
Kevin Slowey is currently 7-3 with a 3.45 ERA and a 1.308 WHIP while sporting a 6.3 K/9 rate curbing any speculation as to whether or not he was going to struggle to return to form. His command is where it needs to be, his pitches are finding the zone and Slowey is once again a viable option if available.
Jeff Niemann is living large right now resting on a perfect record of 6-0, and he plans on taking his 2.48 ERA and 5.7 K/9 rate into next week when he faces the Marlins. Niemann won’t give you a ton of strikes, but he won’t walk a lot of batters either and with nothing but Ws in the column, he is a must start in all formats.
Mike Pelfrey was supposed to be the average, nothing to speak about pitcher he has been in the past at the start of the 2010 season. But instead, Pelfrey retooled his entire delivery, is 8-1 with a 2.23 ERA and a 6.5 K/9 rate (1.1 higher than his career average of 5.4) and gets the nod against the most hapless hitting team in MLB: The Baltimore Orioles. He is the real deal, and a must start in all formats hands down.
Rookie Watch 2010:
Starlin Castro – SS – Cubs: Castro has severely cooled off and returned back to Earth as he has 3 hits and 1 RBI in 20 AB in the month of June thus far.
He could still be trade bait, but good luck with that. For now, keep him on your bench.
Buster Posey – C/1B – Giants: Posey has hit successfully in every game since being called up on May 29th and there really aren’t any signs of slowing down.
Posey is hitting .444/.487/.556 with 4 RBI and 4 DBL, but everyone is still waiting for the dingers to come. Don’t worry; there are plenty of opportunities this month on tap for the Giants and Posey.
Mike Stanton – OF – Marlins: Another member of the uber rookie class to debut this year was outfielder Mike Stanton of the Marlins who went 3 for 5 with two runs scored against the Phillies Tuesday night.
Stanton is viewed as a guy who will provide a bit of power to a Marlins lineup that is already potent. He will whiff a bit, but if he continues to get on base and hit well…who cares about the SOs?
Austin Jackson – OF – Tigers: Jackson has been a breath of fresh air for the Tigers as he is hitting .318/.361/.429 with a solo dinger, and 14 RBI with 8 SB.
In June, Jackson has began to cool off only garnering 8 hits, I SB, and 3 runs scored. This trend will get better, but keep in mind if offered a trade that Jackson isn’t all that worthy in the RBI department simply because he hits behind Gerald Laird and Adam Everett…and those guys just stink.
Ian Desmond – SS – WSH: Aside form an ejection earlier this week, Desmond has began to turn the heat up in June hitting .346/.346/.423 with 9 H, 3 RBI, and one pilfered base.
The kid isn’t the best defensively, but hell the Nationals are all the rage right now and he is a good hitter, AND the ceiling is a mile high for anyone playing in Washington right now.
Jason Heyward – OF – Braves: One of the most promising rookies to enter 2010 has a hit a brick wall, going 3 for 28 with 10 strikeouts in the last seven days.
Heyward is dealing with a thumb injury that won’t go away and what’s worse is just like most newbies he doesn’t wanna admit to it which is causing a problem. Hitting coach Terry Pendleton told Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he isn’t able to finish his swing or get to the proper point, which means it is time to put him on the bench until further notice.
