The Stephen Strasburg everyone expected has finally arrived
In his seventh year in the majors, Washington Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg has become what everyone predicted the day he first stepped foot on a major-league mound. After six seasons of mostly strong performance, Strasburg has finally become a lights-out, the type of guy who can lead a franchise and pitch Game 1 of the World Series.
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Max Scherzer might be the Nationals’ de-facto “ace,” but Strasburg has been the club’s best pitcher thus far this season. Through six starts this season, Strasburg has a 2.36 ERA, with 47 strikeouts in 42 innings.
He’ll look to continue that success against the Detroit Tigers on Monday in Yahoo Sports’ Free MLB Game of the Day. The game, which starts at 7:10 p.m. ET, can be streamed at Yahoo’s Sports Home, MLB index and video home.
Saying Strasburg hasn’t lived up to expectations until now isn’t completely fair. Since he debuted in 2010, Strasburg has posted the 17th best WAR, 12th best ERA and third best strikeout rate among starting pitchers. That’s only led to one All-Star game and one top-10 Cy Young finish, but it’s still pretty darn good.
But because the hype surrounding Strasburg was so insane, many expected him to immediately be the best pitcher in the game. By now, he was supposed to have multiple Cy Young awards.
That hasn’t been the case. While Strasburg’s numbers have been strong, he has yet to be considered among one of the best five pitchers in the game. He may soon find himself in that category, though.
Strasburg’s strong start this season is nice, but his development into a front-line ace actually began last season. Following a stint on the disabled list, Strasburg returned last August, and started tearing up the league.
If you compare his numbers since then to some of the best pitchers in the game over that period, Strasburg comes away looking pretty good.
| Pitcher | GS | IP | HR | BB | SO | ERA | FIP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stephen Strasburg | 16 | 108.1 | 8 | 17 | 139 | 2.08 | 1.98 |
| Jake Arrieta | 18 | 131.1 | 3 | 26 | 126 | 0.55 | 2.16 |
| Clayton Kershaw | 20 | 145.2 | 7 | 18 | 180 | 1.73 | 1.68 |
| Max Scherzer | 19 | 121.2 | 23 | 30 | 150 | 4.14 | 3.89 |
| Chris Sale | 18 | 121.1 | 14 | 27 | 144 | 2.97 | 3.15 |
| Noah Syndergaard | 16 | 101.2 | 14 | 19 | 124 | 3.45 | 3.08 |
So, Arrieta and Kershaw are definitely better, but that’s to be expected. Those two are on incredible runs right now. Even then, though, Strasburg has a better strikeout rate than Arrieta over his unbelievable streak, and his FIP (if you’re into advanced stats) is second-best, behind Kershaw.
If you take those two out of the equation and compare Strasburg to nearly every other stud pitcher since last August, you’re going to come up with similar numbers. Strasburg has posted a better ERA than Scherzer, Sale or Syndergaard over that period. He’s also given up fewer home runs and walks, though he made fewer starts than both Scherzer and Sale.
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Still, the performance has been impressive. And while all those other guys are hyped as some of the best starters in the game, Strasburg has somehow continued to fly under the radar.
After years of hype and expectation, Strasburg has finally turned into the player everyone wanted him to be. It’s about time people take notice.
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Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik
