A few nights ago, I see the following pop up on my Facebook feed: “Stephen Strasburg to start Thursday for Harrisburg Senators”. I live in Harrisburg. I gave my dad a call, and told him I was getting tickets, and snagged a pair behind the plate. Last night, 8,700 fans jammed Metro Bank Park to see Strasburg’s final rehab start against the Portland Sea Dogs. And let me tell you this….he’s ready to go.
Strasburg went six innings, allowed just one hit, hit a batter, walked none, and struck out four. He threw 70 pitches, 53 for strikes. Quite frankly, he looked just as awesome as the raw stats say he was. In his six innings, Strasburg sat around 95-96 with his fastballl, and touched 99 in the first inning. His offspeed pitches were nasty, as Strasburg showed off a high-70’s slider and a mid-80’s changeup that were making hitters look silly all night. Out of all the balls put in play against Strasburg (12 in all), the only contact that was solid was a double into the left field corner by Sea Dogs catcher Daniel Butler, their only hit of the night. Now that I think about it, I don’t think he went to a three ball count on any batter, but don’t quote me on that. He was in a class of his own tonight, and Portland’s hitters looked overmatched all night.
One other guy I’d like to say a quick word about is Derek Norris, the Senators catcher (who happened to be DHing tonight with Pudge Rodriguez in town for a rehab assignment). If you look at Norris, you probably wince at his .204 batting average. But then you dig a little deeper, and you see his stellar walk rate and great pop. On this night, he walked three times and doubled in four plate appearances. He also showed some good wheels, stealing a pair of bases to give him 13 on the season. Norris is just 22 years old, and is an absolute stud right now. His low batting average this year can be attributed to a terribly low BABIP (.238 going into play on Thursday), and the great plate discipline and power show me a guy who is a damn good prospect in his own right. ESPN’s Keith Law ranked Norris as the second best prospect in the Nationals system before the season, behind just Bryce Harper. Norris did not make Law’s midseason top 50 prospect list.
The only way this night could have been better would be if Harper was healthy and in the lineup. With their 10-0 win, Harrisburg clinched the western division of the Eastern League, and actually have clinched the best record in the league as well. I’m going to try to head down to City Island next week for playoff baseball against either Bowie (Orioles), Richmond (Giants), or Akron (Indians). A minor league game is always a good time, and when you’re seeing elite prospects, it’s even better.
