Strasburg masters debut

DISCUSS IN OUR OFFICIAL STRASBURG AAA THREAD

It was pretty clear after posting a 3-1 record and a 1.64 ERA, with only one rocky outing in five starts, that the Washington Nationals were wasting time with Stephen Strasburg at AA Harrisburg.  He was promoted last week to AAA Syracuse.

Strasburg made his AAA debut last night and was just as masterful at AAA that he was at AA.  Strasburg pitched 6 scoreless innings, allowed just 1 hit, 1 walk, while striking out 6 batters, as he led the Chiefs to a 7-0 shut out over the Gwinnette Braves.  Strasburg threw 65 pitches, 45 were for strikes.

Count Syracuse manager Trent Jewett as impressed.

Though Friday was a small sample size, Chiefs manager Trent Jewett knows he has something special in Strasburg -- if only for a couple more weeks.

"You see remarkable arms from time to time, but generally those guys are throwing 100 pitches in five innings," Jewett said. "They can't get through the lineup and they're grunting it up there. You don't feel that way with this guy. He commands the stuff that he possesses."

Fellow first rounder Drew Storen pitched a scoreless 9th inning.  He now has a AAA ERA of 2.45, as he also await contractual reasoning for his call up to Washington with his fellow first rounder Strasburg.  Both are expected to debut in Washington in June.