The "Stephen Strasburg is not an Ace" Thread (2014)

[sph274]

Stephen Strasburg is not an Ace. Merely a very good 2 on a contending team. And I'm ok with that as long as he is as well come negotiating time

[rileyn]

Let's say we were starting a new 3 game series tomorrow with the Braves (or any team really) and you could line up our rotation any way you wanted.  Assume all pitchers had equal rest and were ready to go.  How would you line up the rotation?

I would go:
Jordan Zimmermann
Gio Gonzales
Tanner Roark (the guy just has balls)

If Fister turns out to be the same guy he has been, I would probably move him ahead of Roark.  So where does that leave Strasburg?

[sph274]

is there a Gio Gonzalez appreciation thread? We didnt draft him but he will probably end up being the longest tenured and most successful as a National pitcher of the big three. If he goes his whole contract and is good through 32, I could see him being a Nat until he retires. Doesn't get as much love as he should.

[Baseball is Life]

This thread was so predictable.

[Smithian]

Let's say we were starting a new 3 game series tomorrow with the Braves (or any team really) and you could line up our rotation any way you wanted.  Assume all pitchers had equal rest and were ready to go.  How would you line up the rotation?

I would go:
Jordan Zimmermann
Gio Gonzales
Tanner Roark (the guy just has balls)

If Fister turns out to be the same guy he has been, I would probably move him ahead of Roark.  So where does that leave Strasburg?

Roark over Strasburg? No.

[blue911]

I bet his mom cut the crust off his sandwiches clear through high school

[rileyn]

Roark over Strasburg? No.

Career stats for Strasburg vs. Atlanta
12 starts
58.2 IP (less that 5 IP per start for whatever reason)
3-4 W-L
3.85 ERA

Roark's stats are not too significant because of the small sample size, but in 3 games pitched against the Braves:
1 start
13.0 IP
0.00 ERA
4 hits
2 walks and 12 strikeouts

[houston-nat]

Why does this thread exist?

[Jordanz Meatballz]

Why does this thread exist?

Probably because Strasburg's career has been on a downward trajectory ever since his first start. If not per the metrics, then by the results (wins and losses).

[RobDibblesGhost]

Probably because Strasburg's career has been on a downward trajectory ever since his first start. If not per the metrics, then by the results (wins and losses).

Agreed. Strasbrug's shown flashes of brilliance, but he gets hit around a lot every so often; in addition, he's had many hard-luck starts with little or no run support. Unfortunately, there's been no consistency and he's not the dominating pitcher he could be and the impression is that he simply isn't living up to the hype.

[Mattionals]

He had a bad game.  Yes, it seems that many of his bad games come against the Braves, and you know what, the Nats AS A TEAM are not good against the Braves.  They have the team's number, just as the Marlins did for whatever reason a few years back.  Stop glossing over the fact that Atlanta is a good hitting club and Teheran got lucky with all the mistakes he made.  Stras should take this start and put it in his back pocket to remember for the next time and the time after that and so on.  Baseball is much about a learning experience for the whole season than it is bemoaning one or two losses.  Right the ship early and 2013 doesn't repeat itself.

[skippy1999]

Why does this thread exist?

Because he's mentally weak and lets errors and weather and who knows what else affect his pitching, he's too much of a baby when things go wrong and doesn't pick up his teammates by pitching to his potential and instead falls apart, there I said it.

[Baseball is Life]

Why does this thread exist?

Two words: Panic monkeys.

[NatsDad14]

Should have never pulled the plug. All they did was try to preserve his arm for the Yankees

[Mattionals]

Because he's mentally weak and lets errors and weather and who knows what else affect his pitching, he's too much of a baby when things go wrong and doesn't pick up his teammates by pitching to his potential and instead falls apart, there I said it.

How much of that is mindfact?  Not trying to say you are wrong, but I feel that the media and Davey had more to do with that the last few years.  If you saw any of Stras's interview after last nights game he said HE made bad pitches.  He put that loss on HIMSELF, not on Zim's throw.  He even said that he wanted to make a point that he wants to distance himself from getting discouraged like he did last year.

I'm not trying to be sunshiny, but everyone calling him a mental midget are just getting annoying.  He is a very good pitcher, and while I admit he isn't an ace yet, he is still a dominating pitcher with great stuff and still has a lot left to learn in this game.  Look more into the Braves really hitting well, which is something that we know they are capable of doing and that even the best have a bad game or two.  Let's see what he does in his next few starts to see if he learns from it and gets the ball down in the zone and respects hitters better.

[imref]

I'm not trying to be sunshiny, but everyone calling him a mental midget are just getting annoying.  He is a very good pitcher, and while I admit he isn't an ace yet, he is still a dominating pitcher with great stuff and still has a lot left to learn in this game.  Look more into the Braves really hitting well, which is something that we know they are capable of doing and that even the best have a bad game or two.  Let's see what he does in his next few starts to see if he learns from it and gets the ball down in the zone and respects hitters better.

Agreed, though so far JZ and GG are definitely the better pitchers.

[houston-nat]

Probably because Strasburg's career has been on a downward trajectory ever since his first start. If not per the metrics, then by the results (wins and losses).

But metrics are real measures of his performance. Wins and losses are measures of run support and defense. The problems yesterday? Zimmerman's error (2 runs) and run support.

[ZIM4MVP]

If we traded him to the Braves he would be a Cy Young winner.  So what gives

[blue911]

But metrics are real measures of his performance. Wins and losses are measures of run support and defense. The problems yesterday? Zimmerman's error (2 runs) and run support.

No the problem yesterday was Strasburg not having fastball command.

[blue911]

Strasburg's BABIP isn't the result of bloop hits and grounders sneaking through, the balls are well struck including Teheran's in the 4th inning.

[Jordanz Meatballz]

Only 13 outs, and at least 11 baserunners won't look good in the metrics.

[spidernat]

I would go:
Jordan Zimmermann
Gio Gonzales
Tanner Roark (the guy just has balls)

   I've criticized Strasburg for failing to live up the hype or breaking down when things don't go his way but saying that Tanner freaking Roark would get a start before Strasburg is absolute stupidity.

[sph274]

the title was kind of in jest and i couldn't find another thread about stephen strasburg so i created this one. there is a danny espinosa redemption thread because he hit two doubles and took a walk. i figured a strasburg thread was appropriate as well

[imref]

Strasburg's BABIP isn't the result of bloop hits and grounders sneaking through, the balls are well struck including Teheran's in the 4th inning.

his curve ball got way up.  Williams noted that he relied on it too much in the middle-innings.  I wonder if he and Lobaton are not quite in sync yet.

[blue911]

Need to hire Livan to be his life styles coach