He's the real deal folks. After completing his Double-A stint with a 1.64 ERA while striking out 27 in 22 innings, Stephen Strasburg of the Washington Nationals organization has taken Triple-A by storm. In his first start with the Syracuse Chiefs Strasburg threw six scoreless innings, allowing just one hit while striking out six batters. His fastball reached 99 mph during the 65 pitch outing.
Strasburg also accounted for two of the Chiefs runs in the 7-0 victory over the Gwinnett Braves, driving in a run with an RBI single in the second and laying down a sacrifice bunt in the fourth to drive in the third run of the game.
Today Strasburg repeated his performance, again throwing six innings of shutout baseball, this time without allowing a single hit. He struck out seven in the 80 pitch performance as the Chiefs rolled over the Norfolk Tides for a 4-0 victory.
It seems that Strasburg has gotten BETTER against the tougher Triple-A competition, allowing less baserunners while continuing to strike out batters at a clip of over one per inning. His 9.75 K/9 (strikeouts per 9 innings pitched) average has to excite the Nationals front office.
This leaves us baseball fans, especially those in D.C. wondering when Strasburg will get the call to the parent club. He has the top prospect billing after being drafted number one overall in last year's MLB draft, and he looks to have the stuff and the stats to succeed now at the Major League level.
Now it's up to the Nationals brass to decide when Strasburg can offer some rejuvenation to their club and possibly your fantasy team.
Strasburg should be owned in all keeper formats at this point, but I would consider adding him in ANY format, keeper or non-keeper, AL only or mixed league after his repeated trouncing of Triple-A competition. Add him before someone else does, he could be looking at a call up after one or two more starts at the Triple-A level.
Feel free to email me at sandlotsabermetrics@gmail.com with fantasy questions to feature in my weekly Help Me Help You blog.
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