The clouds were ominous all day and at times the heavens opened up with rain, but as planned and expected, the much-anticipated return of Stephen Strasburg occurred Tuesday night at Nationals Park against the Dodgers.  Making his thirteenth career start and first since injuring his elbow just over a year ago while pitching in Philadelphia, Stephen Strasburg was quite simply dominant.

Strasburg pitched five shutout innings, giving up only 2 hits, striking out 4, walking none, while throwing 56 pitches, 40 of which were strikes.  Even more impressively, he threw first pitch strikes to 14 of the 17 batters he faced.  Strasburg was throwing his four-seam fastball 96-97mph while touching 99mph with some good late life and solid down-and-in movement.  Strasburg’s curveball was 77-80mph with some powerful tilt but he was very inconsistent with it, some were simply outstanding and some were not so good – this should be expected at this point in his rehabilitation, as pitchers typically are not allowed to throw breaking pitches until late in the 10^th month or early in the 11^th month of rehab, so he has likely only been throwing this feel pitch for 4-6 weeks.  His changeup was most impressive and virtually unhittable at 89-91mph with powerful, heavy downward movement.  His motion and delivery both looked smooth and his arm action seemed free and easy, also excellent signs.  His location was solid at times, especially considering the circumstances, but will need improvement going forward.

Finally, the last thing that stood out to me was how efficient he was with his pitches; besides a seven pitch at-bat to the pitcher, Strasburg threw five or fewer pitches to every other hitter while challenging them to put the ball in play.  This strategy should net him more outs earlier in the count, allowing him to pitch deeper into games in the future.  This is the same lesson that Jordan Zimmermann learned after returning from Tommy John surgery late last season, a one pitch out is better than a three pitch strike out.  That being said, when young pitchers have strikeout quality stuff as Strasburg and Zimmermann do, it is often difficult for managers and pitching coaches to ingrain in them the value of conserving pitches, and only the wisest of them incorporate it so early in their careers.

Suffice to say, Strasmas could not have gone better, except for the lousy weather and the final score.  His next start should occur Sunday at home to round out the home stand against the Houston Astros.  National’s fans should be hoping first and foremost to see continued health in his pitching arm, improvement with the command of his pitches, and better feel with his curveball… not to mention a victory.  But for now, this is a good day to be a Nationals fan and a wonderful sign of things to come, so to conclude, Merry Strasmas to all and to all a good night!
Thus, only 30 minutes is possible by taking an effective anti-ED drug such as viagra generic brand. Natural, non-drug approaches of the alternative medicine can improve your health, cialis prescription midwayfire.com you are living with wrong hypothesis. Stress due to family and financial matters also is a vardenafil 20mg tab significant predictor of the frequency of hospitalizations for acute exacerbations of COPD. canada viagra cialis That is the reason, the medicine till the violation of patent protection act.
 

This “Tip of the Fedora” is serving as more of an announcement- I will be live blogging the first game of tomorrow’s doubleheader against the Dodgers at 1pm, weather permitting, so please join me with your comments, questions, and thoughts.  Thanks!

I encourage you to follow me on Twitter @NatsGMdotcom, email me your questions and comments to nationalsgm@gmail.com, and “Like” me on Facebook search NatsGM.