The Nationals made a long-anticipated move today, optioning pitching phenom Stephen Strasburg to Double-A Harrisburg, where the righty will begin the 2010 season. Strasburg will be joined in central Pennsylvania by similarly-promising pitching prospect Drew Storen. Strasburg, who just had his most vigorous outing in a Nationals uniform on Friday — 73 pitches, 53 for strikes in 4 innings — packed up his locker in Viera this morning. It’s a nearly-universal sentiment that this was the appropriate thing for the team to do in order to insure the proper development of the most heralded pitching prospect in years. As Tom Bridge notes, getting Strasburg and Storen used to the day-in, day-out grind of professional baseball and building their confidence is far more important than any short-term boost that the club would have seen on the field by bringing them up to the big leagues right out of spring training.
The move makes financial sense as well — Strasburg is obviously the team’s biggest marketing chip, and delaying his arrival will certainly whet the public’s appetite to see him in person. The attendance boost should really come in handy when the team is languishing under .500 come June and July. (Hey — prove me wrong, Nats!)
Strasburg had been pitching incredibly well this spring, logging a 2.00 ERA in three starts, with 12 strikeouts in nine innings and a very impressive GO/AO ratio of 14. It’s not a stretch to say that Strasburg was the team’s best pitcher this spring, admittedly in limited action — so it’s not surprising that the 21-year-old thought he had a legitimate shot at making the Opening Day 25-man roster. The Post’s Adam Kilgore caught up with the San Diego State product today, and found an obviously displeased young man: Strasburg dubbed the move “not the perfect situation” and that “[e]verybody is competing for a job here. I felt like I was included, but you know, it’s all good.” Ooh, he’s hungry — we like that.
If Strasburg maintains his current schedule, he should make his first minor-league start for the Harrisburg Senators on April 8 at Altoona.
