A lot has happened in Major League Baseball since the last Hanging Curve, including an injury to a future Hall of Famer (Mariano Rivera), the benching of another (Albert Pujols) and a career-week for a slugger (Josh Hamilton) on a path that could lead to Cooperstown.
If the Jays front office thinks they can form a starting rotation worthy of contending in the East in the next couple seasons, there is no reason to believe that they will not make a run at Prince Fielder.
- Strasburg was born on July 20th, 1988 in San Diego, California and is a junior at San Diego State.
- He throws an incredible fastball that tops out at 102 MPH, but also has remarkable command with a propensity to hit the corners. The fastball has a shocking amount of movement.
- He also features an excellent slider and change-up that is developing and looks better than it is because of his velocity with the fastball. There are of course only a few pitchers on the planet who can throw that fast, but his slider (low to mid 80's) is especially impressive.
- He is 6'4", 220 pounds and will be a true power pitcher and his pitching motion shows no signs of potential injury concerns.
- Strasburg was second in the country in strikeouts and third in ERA as a sophomore in 2008.
- He served as SDSU's closer during his freshman season and was subsequently named to multiple Freshman All-American teams.
- Allowed only one home run in first two seasons.
- Strasburg was also recruited by Arizona State, Stanford, Arizona, Yale, Harvard and UNLV.
- Was the only collegiate on the 2008 United States Olympic team.
- Advised by Scott Boras.
Strasburg Updates
RealGM will be tracking Strasburg throughout his minor league development and present updates on his progress here and within our Wiretap.
Apr. 30, 2009: Jim Bowden, former GM of the Nationals, says the decision to draft Strasburg with the first overall pick has already been made.
Apr. 3, 2009: Strasburg strikes out six in six innings as UC Davis hitters are aggressive early in the count.
Mar. 26, 2009: Strasburg nearly quit baseball as a freshman at SDSU and went undrafted out of high school.
Mar. 23, 2009: Nationals aren't scared of Strasburg's potential price tag of $50 million over five years.
Mar. 20, 2009: Strasburg strikes out 15 in seven shutout innings against BYU.
Mar. 13, 2009: Strasburg strikes out 14 but allows two runs in win against UNLV.
Mar. 9, 2009: Scout says his team would trade entire draft for Strasburg.
Mar. 7, 2009: Strasburg strikes out 18 in eight innings against USD.
Mar. 1, 2009: Strasburg is included as the only collegiate player in RealGM's 'Be The GM' Series.
Feb. 28, 2009: Strasburg strikes out 16 and is clocked seven separate times at 102 mph.
Feb. 9, 2009: Jim Bowden calls Strasburg one of the best pitching prospects in 10 or 15 years
