Author Topic: Could Strasburg go from the draft directly to the rotation? (Read 3850 times)

LARRYbroadway · « **Topic Start:** February 21, 2009, 06:59:46 PM »

Has it been done before? Could this happen this year?

HalfSmokes · « **Reply #1:** February 21, 2009, 07:29:07 PM »

Quote from: LARRYbroadway on February 21, 2009, 06:59:46 PM

Has it been done before? Could this happen this year?

by the time he's drafted he will have already thrown a full college season, if you put him straight in you add essentially half a season- why would you do that to his arm?

shoeshineboy · « **Reply #2:** February 21, 2009, 07:29:30 PM »

While anything is possible, this is extremely unlikely, almost a certainty that it will not happen. All players need to be run through a team's system to some extent to check them out and get them prepared mentally and physically. Also, regardless of how good Strasburg is, I believe he was a closer until last season. Any team that drafts a pitcher needs him to work his way up to being able to start in the pros. Even if he progressed well and got a callup, he would likely start in middle relief and possibly shut down altogether early to prevent any damage. I would think David Price would be a good example of a more likely progression for a guy like Strasburg. But it is certainly possible that we could see Strasburg make an appearance as a September callup in some capacity if everything goes perfectly.

KnorrForYourMoney · « **Reply #3:** February 21, 2009, 11:36:36 PM »

I want to go on a tangent about this, but seeing some draft projections got me really thinking:

Could the Nationals really, REALLY make history this year and have TWO first-round draftees go directly to the big leagues?

I've seen them projected to take a college arm in a lot of projection systems. One said Tanner Scheppers, one said Andy Oliver, yet another said Kyle Gibson. If we take another college arm with Strasburg, and said pitcher has a lot of polish, we could see something really unprecedented happen this year! That would be something to behold, even if the second pitcher gets more of a cup of coffee ala Detwiler '07.

sportsfan882 · « **Reply #4:** February 21, 2009, 11:39:14 PM »

I hope the 2nd pitcher doesn't take a long time like Detwiler though. That would suck. Detwiler still has a lot of potential but he has been kind of disappointing thus far. We all expected more from him sooner.

KnorrForYourMoney · « **Reply #5:** February 22, 2009, 12:47:01 AM »

Oh, I'd hate for him to be an EXACT comp to Detwiler, but it would be really amazing to see whoever it is just end up pitching for the big club in September.

Skinz72 · « **Reply #6:** February 22, 2009, 10:33:19 AM »

I'd say the chances of that are about the same as having Bowden step down as GM while admitting complete incompetence - its possible, but rather unlikely. Young baseball players are a delicate creature... they have fully matured bodies but their minds are like putty. Baseball oganizations, at least the good ones, put players through a learning process where sometimes its good if they get shelled in a game to bring them back to reality, and sometimes its good to cradle them and not let them fail (building confidence). With Strasburg, they are not going to place him as the #1 starter, or in the rotation for that matter, until he sees some professional batters whove been hitting against pitchers everyday for years. He's probably gotten some sense of talent in the Olympics, but day-to-day pro level, he has not. He must get a sense of how bat speed and plate presense changes from college to the pros. There is not need to rush him, because the Nats are not in contention this year. Give him at least a 1/2 season of AA and AAA to see how he handles the change from college "little league" to pro level talent. If he is lights out in minors, having him go to the Nats as a reliever or a #5 starter in Sept would be okay. No need to rush him through - if we even sign him!!!

shoeshineboy · « **Reply #7:** February 22, 2009, 12:15:40 PM »

Quote from: Skinz72 on February 22, 2009, 10:33:19 AM

I'd say the chances of that are about the same as having Bowden step down as GM while admitting complete incompetence - its possible, but rather unlikely. Young baseball players are a delicate creature... they have fully matured bodies but their minds are like putty. Baseball oganizations, at least the good ones, put players through a learning process where sometimes its good if they get shelled in a game to bring them back to reality, and sometimes its good to cradle them and not let them fail (building confidence). With Strasburg, they are not going to place him as the #1 starter, or in the rotation for that matter, until he sees some professional batters whove been hitting against pitchers everyday for years. He's probably gotten some sense of talent in the Olympics, but day-to-day pro level, he has not. He must get a sense of how bat speed and plate presense changes from college to the pros. There is not need to rush him, because the Nats are not in contention this year. Give him at least a 1/2 season of AA and AAA to see how he handles the change from college "little league" to pro level talent. If he is lights out in minors, having him go to the Nats as a reliever or a #5 starter in Sept would be okay. No need to rush him through - if we even sign him!!!

This

HalfSmokes · « **Reply #8:** February 22, 2009, 03:27:38 PM »

Just don't forget how many innings he'll already have thrown this year by the time we draft him

saltydad · « **Reply #9:** February 22, 2009, 03:36:40 PM »

"....if we even sign him!!!"

Heaven forbid we don't. Let's not jinx this. (spits 3 times)

ronnynat · « **Reply #10:** February 22, 2009, 03:37:09 PM »

Quote from: HalfSmokes on February 22, 2009, 03:27:38 PM

Just don't forget how many innings he'll already have thrown this year by the time we draft him

I don't think he'll get more than 30 innings in the pros this season.

sportsfan882 · « **Reply #11:** February 22, 2009, 03:41:28 PM »

Quote from: ronnynat on February 22, 2009, 03:37:09 PM

I don't think he'll get more than 30 innings in the pros this season.

yep, if that much. I'd look for him to compete a spot in the '10 rotation though.

ronnynat · « **Reply #12:** February 22, 2009, 03:47:33 PM »

Quote from: sportsfan882 on February 22, 2009, 03:41:28 PM

yep, if that much. I'd look for him to compete a spot in the '10 rotation though.

Absolutely. Even if he was somehow drafted by the Red Sox, he'd still have a shot at a rotation spot.

Blueliner · « **Reply #13:** February 23, 2009, 01:05:18 AM »

Don't get ahead of yourself. If you heard the scouts talking at the game on Fri., let's just say Stras will need to do better than he did. Not that is was bad. But it wasn't what many scouts were expecting.

sportsfan882 · « **Reply #14:** February 23, 2009, 01:08:16 AM »

Wtf? So you were actually there? If so, what did they say?

SS did a fine job for his first start of the year against a good team in Bethune-Cookman. 5.2 IP 0 ER 11 K is solid in my book.

Blueliner · « **Reply #15:** February 23, 2009, 01:25:02 AM »

Quote from: sportsfan882 on February 23, 2009, 01:08:16 AM

Wtf? So you were actually there? If so, what did they say?

SS did a fine job for his first start of the year against a good team in Bethune-Cookman. 5.2 IP 0 ER 11 K is solid in my book.

2 BB and 1 HBP. He was just off. Also BC isn't a good baseball program. Many scouts said if this was a good team, he would have gotten shelled.

JMUalumni · « **Reply #16:** February 23, 2009, 11:37:35 AM »

Quote from: Blueliner on February 23, 2009, 01:25:02 AM

2 BB and 1 HBP. He was just off. Also BC isn't a good baseball program. Many scouts said if this was a good team, he would have gotten shelled.

Bethune Cookman is a very good baseball team, they just aren't an elite team with name recognition. BC has won their conference 6 out of the last 7 years and made the CWS each of those year. Hell, they only have 2 losses in the previous three seasons.

As for Strasburg, pitchers are going to walk batters... it happens. I would just prefer he doesn't do it too much. If we expect this kid to be perfect every pitch of his career, he is never going to live up the expectations. While he wasn't perfect, I think he had a very encouraging start for his first game of the season. Also, I don't understand how his performance would translate into him getting shelled by a "good team". He struck out nearly half the batters he faced, the other half had trouble even putting the ball into play.

DPMOmaha · « **Reply #17:** February 23, 2009, 11:38:57 AM »

Quote from: JMUalumni on February 23, 2009, 11:37:35 AM

Bethune Cookman is a very good baseball team, they just aren't an elite team with name recognition. BC has won their conference 6 out of the last 7 years and made the CWS each of those year. Hell, they only have 2 losses in the previous three seasons.

As for Strasburg, pitchers are going to walk batters... it happens. I would just prefer he doesn't do it too much. If we expect this kid to be perfect every pitch of his career, he is never going to live up the expectations. While he wasn't perfect, I think he had a very encouraging start for his first game of the season. Also, I don't understand how his performance would translate into him getting shelled by a "good team". He struck out nearly half the batters he faced, the other half had trouble even putting the ball into play.

Bethune Cookman has never made it to the CWS.

JMUalumni · « **Reply #18:** February 23, 2009, 11:40:58 AM »

Quote from: DPMOmaha on February 23, 2009, 11:38:57 AM

Bethune Cookman has never made it to the CWS.

Regionals, still CWS in my book. Should have specified. My point was, that they aren't a pushover team.

DPMOmaha · « **Reply #19:** February 23, 2009, 11:44:05 AM »

Ah, that's not the same thing. They were the equivalent of a 14-16 seed in March Madness. The CWS is the Final Four of baseball. It's about the equivalent of UMBC making it to the dance last year.

JMUalumni · « **Reply #20:** February 23, 2009, 11:44:42 AM »

Quote from: DPMOmaha on February 23, 2009, 11:44:05 AM

Ah, that's not the same thing. They were the equivalent of a 14-16 seed in March Madness.

Yeah, but we still say those teams made the big dance regardless. You are in the top 25% of schools in the nation if you can make it to regional.

HalfSmokes · « **Reply #21:** February 23, 2009, 11:46:37 AM »

Quote from: JMUalumni on February 23, 2009, 11:44:42 AM

Yeah, but we still say those teams made the big dance regardless. You are in the top 25% of schools in the nation if you can make it to regional.

nontheless, you can still be a pushover and make the dance

DPMOmaha · « **Reply #22:** February 23, 2009, 11:46:53 AM »

Techincally. But it's only because they let the winner from every conference into the tourney. You really think the MEAC winner is one of the best 25% in the country?

JMUalumni · « **Reply #23:** February 23, 2009, 11:48:08 AM »

Quote from: DPMOmaha on February 23, 2009, 11:46:53 AM

Techincally. But it's only because they let the winner from every conference into the tourney. You really think the MEAC winner is one of the best 25% in the country?

Yeah, but I would admit that some sneak in that aren't. BC is not one of these that snuck in. But my whole point with this was that Strasburg didn't face some bottom of the barrel team. You are right, I should have specified REGIONAL CWS.

DPMOmaha · « **Reply #24:** February 23, 2009, 11:52:07 AM »

Quote from: JMUalumni on February 23, 2009, 11:48:08 AM

Yeah, but I would admit that some sneak in that aren't. BC is not one of these that snuck in. But my whole point with this was that Strasburg didn't face some bottom of the barrel team. You are right, I should have specified REGIONAL CWS.

Perhaps. I'd say they're in the bottom half of college baseball, but we'll see as the year goes on. They're very good withing the conference they play in.