He said he wanted to “give the Major Leaguers something they have never seen before”. Well, how about a MLB record setting 32 strikeouts in his first three games?
Steven Strasburg has already begun to show MLB,and fantasy baseball fans everywhere that he is the real deal with three top notch performances which have invigorated the Nationals fanbase, and exhilarated the fantasy world.
But just how long will this success last you say?
The K-Ville Mayor will face the up and down Royals next which could produce another double digit outing for the big kid, but after that, Strasburg will have to come back down to earth a bit when he faces both the Braves and the Mets (one of the hottest teams in baseball right now might I add) as well as the Giants before the All-Star break.
Much stiffer competition than the Indians and Pirates, in regard to fantasy.
The matchup with the Royals, however, should serve as a great way to further gauge the top prospect before the Nats head into their two-game divisional showdown, since they do posses some decent talent.
Billy Butler leads the way as one of the two power bats on the team, and can hit just about anything thrown to him. Some people aren’t too happy with his first half production, but that really shouldn’t be a concern at all since he is still hitting .339/.392/.494 with 6 homeruns and 36 RBI; comparable to last year’s first half.
Scott Podsednik would be the next major threat in my mind despite a recent drop off in production.
Podsednik is a guy who can get on base quite often as well as offer a bit of run support. He is currently hitting .287/.335/.363, but he also has 19 SB and the Nats aren’t exactly great at stopping base runners.
After Butler and Podsednik, Strasburg and company will have to figure out what to do with David DeJesus.
At age 30 DeJesus has been a more than pleasant surprise for the Royals and owners everywhere as he is hitting .324/.397/.480 with 5 HR and 31 RBI and his .891 OPS is at least 100 points higher than any other time in his career.
After the big three, Strasburg will have to deal with Alberto Callaspo ( the other power bat with 7 dingers), Jose Guillen who will strikeout a lot, but leads the team in RBI with 41, and a hodgepodge of players who can be a problem if they are on their game.
In the end, this next outing should serve as a great way to really zero in on Strasburg before you make a decision on whether or not to start him against the Mets and Braves.
But at his current pace, he may just be the most dangerous player in MLB, as well as Fantasy Baseball.
