At every level he has pitched, Stephen Strasburg has performed exceptionally and the scouts have definitely taken notice. As reported by Buster Olney on ESPN.com, a "long time" scout quoted to Buster that Strasburg is, "The best I've ever seen," and also said, "And it's not even close."
That same scout went on to explain that the day he watched Strasburg pitch, his fastball was consistently clocked between 100 and 102 mph on the radar gun over the course of the entire game. And not only was his best pitch blazingly fast, but it apparently also moves — unheard of for a pitcher with 100+mph speed — with the scout observing, "Whenever you see a fastball at 100 mph, it's always straight. No movement. But his fastball has a lot of movement, which really doesn't make that much sense, because it's on the hitter so quickly. His fastball cuts."
To go with Strasburg's fastball, he also has a "plus" slider that the observing scout recorded in the 92-94 mph range and a "plus" change-up to offset his speed pitches. A junior in college sporting a 100 mph fastball with movement and two other "plus" pitches? Again, this is literally unheard of, especially at the collegiate level.
In fact, the scout Olney consulted was so confident in Strasburg's major league readiness he predicted that Stephen could be placed into a big league rotation immediately and perform as a very good number 2 or 3 starter, exclaiming "Right now, he's better than A.J. Burnett."
So to recap, we are talking about a 21-year-old kid who throws over 100 mph consistently, has three major league ready pitches that he hurls with deadly control, and has absolutely obliterated all comers, whether in college or during international competition. It's quite a leap to call a pitcher who has yet to throw a single pitch in the Major Leagues the greatest prospect ever, but with Strasburg's extreme skills and staggering statistics, it is hard not use that exact phrase when describing him.
Article comments
1 - Tan The Man
I wonder what his pitch counts are...
2 - Tony
Reasonable I would guess (couldn't find that detailed of a statistical listing). The strikeouts drive up the pitch count but the fact that he walks so few people would keep it low. It's common for power pitchers to have high pitch counts but it is also common for them to be, at least somewhat, wild, which Strasburg is obviously not.
3 - Matthew T. Sussman
With a label like that, there's no way he doesn't disappoint everybody.
4 - Tony
I would agree but I guess you never know. I mean a pitcher like this has no precedent. History would tell you there is no way he could live up to the hype -- much like say, a Bobby Jones -- but it seems like, if he stays healthy, the kid should be something special.
If you think about it, the closest modern equivalent would be Mark Prior I guess, and he would have lived up to the hype had he not gotten hurt.
5 - REMF(MCH)
I bet he's not as fast as Sid Finch.
6 - Tony
Nor can he throw AS hard. That's really funny; I think Buster actually references Finch in his interview that I linked to the story.