First
My bad. I forgot that not only did Crow not sign until August, he didn't pitch last year. Although he did pitch both 08 and 09 in indy ball, about five games combined. So this is his third season if you count independent leagues, and first professional season. You can understand how someone would just assume he made at least one minor league start last year... He should be on his third professional season if he'd signed with the Nats, and didn't throw a pitch until four months ago? What a joke, and what a way to lose two years of your career.
Looking up his career stats, I wonder how much it is to blame. He pitched one game, just one inning, with Fort Worth in Indy ball in 08. He pitched three games, for 17 innings in 09. So you're looking at March-April of 08 until April of 10, he threw 18 innings in 4 games?!? Err, that's not exactly going to be a path towards a successful start in professional ball. Did Crow pitch in any fall/winter leagues with the Royals last year, or were those 18 innings it for two years? I'm pretty sure I recall he pitched in the Arizona Fall League, but didn't see it on his career list. Regardless, whether 18 innings in two years or 18 innings in 18 months, I'd have to say it's a miracle he's performing this well. What an absolute moron. He's ruined any chance he had at a successful career before it began over $500k.
If he had signed with the Nats in 08, gotten a few starts in the minors that season, who knows what kind of a pitcher he could have developed into. But no one, not even a Strasburg caliber pitcher, could enter professional ball and face the difficulty level of hitting in AA/A after having only pitched in college after having pitched only 18 innings in two full years in between.
