A Closer Look at Strasburg

I've seen Strasburg twice and he never topped 97 on my own gun. A 101-mph fastball is almost a mythical beast; I've only gotten triple digits on my own gun from Matt Lindstrom, and have never gotten any starter over 98.

Strasburg's clearly the best player in the '09 draft class. I just don't get why Boswell had to exaggerate his abilities.

I watched about 3 innings of the US and Cuba game, and this guy's stuff is sick. In all seriousness, he seems to use his curveball low in the zone and it was effective almost everytime. If you were to splitscreen his curve and Roy Halladay's, it would look exactly the same, as both use that pitch to freeze hitters or get them to swing in miss as it just starts at the letters and dips to the shins over a matter of feet feet in front of the plate to the mitt. Also, none of the cuban hitters seemed as if they were able to catch up with his fastball. The triple and the homerun he gave up came from the hitters guessing right, mixed with Strasburg living the curve/slider up. This kid has got amazing stuff, and the fact that Johnson saved him for 8 days just to pitch against the Cubans in the semifinal game proves how dominant his stuff can be and how composed he is for his age.

I've probably spent about 50 hours breaking down Strasburg's film, mechanics and side sessions.

To Mr. Boswell, his out pitch is actually a slider, not a curveball. It breaks down and away, much like Brad Lidge's and Francisco Liriano's.

His fastball has hit 102 at times, according to BA. I've only seen it hit 100, but it does crack triple digits when he needs it to. Even after the longest season of his career, something I really do worry about, he was still hitting 95-95 consistently in the Olympics.

Every accolade he receives is just. He's the best pitching prospect since Mark Prior, and significantly better mechanically.

there's a big difference between not caving to crow's demands and not paying the freight for somoene like strasburg.

crow is a guy who was the 9th pick, not the first overall, and who wasn't the first pitcher taken, but wanted a bonus like he was the first overall pick and a "can't miss." there were concerns about crow's mechanics. and his agents did nobody (crow or the nationals) any favors by making a ridiculous first offer ($9m bonus) and then not negotiating at all until the last day.

as for the 101... after the world baseball classic werent they saying dice-k was throwing 100+ mph? he rarely gets above the low 90's in every game ive seen him pitch.

if thats the case, are they even using the same guns in international competition that they do for mlb purposes?

Congrats to Tim Dierkes. You know your baseball blog has made it big time when Keith Freakin' Law drops a comment. Maybe this happens a lot, but I hadn't seen Keith Law (or anyone else particularly famous) comment here before. I knew a lot of the big boys read the site, but hadn't seen anyone comment.

Thanks for the info Keith.

For purposes of the draft, it doesn't matter whether Strasburg tops out at 97 or 102. Both are plus plus velocity for a starter and Strasburg is the #1 talent, regardless of which figure is correct.

Do we have any way of knowing that its actually Keith Law? If so, thats an incredible achievement Tim.

to usctrojans31 -

im sure that strasburg is incredible, as his numbers are off the charts, but saying he is the best pitching prospect since prior is risky. kershaw? david price? thats a pretty bold statement considering how highly touted these kids are.

It will be interesting if the Nats pony up for Strasburg. I hope he falls to my M's but we did pass on Andrew Miller to pick Brandon Morrow because of money concerns. Felix, Bedard, Morrow, and Strasburg would brighten the future.

"A guy like Strasburg should spend very little time in the minors."

I'm actually going to disagree with you on this. One of the biggest mistakes Boras could make with Strasburg is to insist on a MLB deal for this very reason.

Strasburg's stuff is good enough to essentially be a 2 pitch pitcher right now and his changeup actually helps the college hitters speed up their bats with aluminum. Strasburg needs to work on using his changeup in fastball counts, like he was doing in the Olympics.

Any talk of the Nats passing over an arm like Strasubrg is nonsensical babble. If Bowden passed on talent like this, the city would rise up as one and run him out of town. They will draft him, offer him a deal comparable to other #1's, probably more because he is a Boras client, and he should be in the majors within two years.

Despite the fact that Jimmy-boy is still the GM, if the Nats have the number one pick, they will draft Strasburg. In the long run, hopefully Bowden won't even be working for the Nationals come draft day.