Strasburg making Giants look silly
The iconic Stephen Strasburg strikeout is probably a swinging hack at high heat. You know, the flamethrower, the triple-digit radar reading, the catcher rising out of his stance and all that.
But I think I'm starting to enjoy the Strasburg breaking-ball strikeout more, batters poking out their arms meekly as the ball bounces in the dirt, or going down on one knee, or even flinging their entire bat at the ball in a gesture of utter defeat. Five of Strasburg's eight strikeouts against the Giants on Friday night came on swings at low breaking balls, most of the utterly futile variety.
Here are some of the images of that futility With Strasburg already holding the team lead in strikeouts -- in 75 fewer innings than second-place Livan Hernandez -- there will probably be more of these images in the second half, but it seemed like a pleasant way to go into the All-Star Break.
By
Dan Steinberg
|
July 12, 2010; 9:49 AM ET
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Nats
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Posted by: aarseneault06 | July 12, 2010 10:22 AM | Report abuse
I don't think it will be long before these kind of strikeouts are the iconic ones.
Posted by: JohninMpls | July 12, 2010 10:38 AM | Report abuse
Don't worry, Bloggy, it won't be long before batters launch Stephen's stuff out of the park. This is a videotape world we live in and when a phenomenal pitcher gets enough video to study, batters will get the stick on the ball routinely.
Just ask Hideo Nomo.
Posted by: playahatah | July 12, 2010 10:45 AM | Report abuse
Was watching highlights on MLB Network and the commentator stated "not in prayer" in re. a batter brought to his knees. :-D
Posted by: natsfan1a1 | July 12, 2010 11:00 AM | Report abuse
Just ask Hideo Nomo.
Posted by: playahatah | July 12, 2010 10:45 AM
Hilarious!
Posted by: Kev29 | July 12, 2010 11:18 AM | Report abuse
good point, playahatah. especially on point after reading in multiple places that hideo nomo was one of strasburg's "comparables." let's face it, they're almost the exact same pitcher. i'll bet if you dig deep enough, you'll find some japanese genes in strasburg's gene pool.
Posted by: sec231 | July 13, 2010 10:30 AM | Report abuse
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It was like watching And 1 baseball...
Dan -
I think you missed the one were the batter fell...I think it was Pablo Sandoval