Last night, on his new stomping ground at Nationals Park, Steven Strasburg took his spotlight and turned it to max voltage. Behind the flashing lights and eye-popping stats is a monumental turning point for two rebuilding organizations: these teams aren't only opponents in this series-they're parallels.
The flamethrower phenom pitched 7 innings of nasty gas, striking out 14 Pirates and walking none to show the control, power, and domination of a premier pitcher in the National league. Never before has a pitcher zapped 14 batters without giving up a free base in their MLB debut. Never before has a Washington Nationals pitcher had 14 stikeouts. Never before has a MLB player taken this amount of pressure and clearly exceeded expectations.
No, the kid didn't pitch a perfect game. He didn't get a shut out either, thanks to one swing of Delwyn Young's Louisville. But given the circumstances, Steven Strasburg has answered the individual hype, unheard of in the team oriented MLB, with a magnificent performance that puts him atop the Nats' rotation and on pace to become one of the top pitchers in the NL. It was just one game, let's remember-but that stuff was N-A-s-T-y.
Hidden under all the hype, however smothered it may be by the radar gun reads and fanning bats, is the crucial middle stage of rebuilding for the Nationals and the Pirates. The Nationals have finally unveiled the centerpiece of their organization, while the Pirates are in the process of calling up the young guns to put together some of the pieces of their multi-year molding plan.
Let's not forget that these teams just drafted some incredible talent in the MLB Draft. The Nationals drafted 17 year old slugger Bryce Harper and highly touted pitcher A.J. Cole in the first and fourth rounds. The Pirates had a similarly successful outcome, snagging high school standouts in projected Ace Jameson Tallion and fastball king Stetson Allie. Who knows if these guys might have their own stunning debuts in a couple years.(more on the draft coming soon)
As for Pittsburgh, Andrew McCutchen and Neil Walker are already established (see previous article), but the night after Strasburg's debut, Pittsburgh will send out some of it's own young talent in pitcher Brad Lincoln and outfielder Jose Tabata.
Lincoln is no Strasburg, lacking the ace material and command to put on any performance similar to the kid from San Diego. Still, Lincoln has the stuff and confidence to establish himself atop the Pirates' rotation. Tabata has dominated at the plate for the Pirates' AAA team, earning him the chance to surge some offense into the Pirates' lineup.
That's not to say that tonight's game will be anywhere near as spectacular as last night's debut, but it's certainly a much more important game for the Pirates' organization. The Nationals had their turn, and now it's the Pirates' chance to see just how far they are in rebuilding to a successful franchise. These teams have a lot of talent brewing in their organizations, and watching these young prospects make their appearances in the Majors will be a quite the spectacle in the coming years.
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