Posted by Doug Thorburn on Sunday, June 13, 2010 at 9:44 am

Stephen Strasburg’s debut was so highly anticipated that the first pitch to Andrew McCutcheon was removed from the game, to be immediately sent to the Hall of Fame. Never before has a ballplayer’s debut attracted such national attention, and the expectations were impossibly high. 

Still, the rookie was unflappable. Rather than crumble beneath the Don King-shaped weight of pre-game hype, Stras appeared to embrace the energy that filled the ballpark. The right-hander remained focused on every hitter, every pitch. He treated the game as a competitive challenge to his own greatness, with absolutely no intention of backing down.

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The Stat Line

7 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 14 K, 0 BB, 1 HR

,,,and one big W. Strasburg’s 14 strikeouts were the most in a debut since the intimidating J.R. Richard K’d 15 Giants back in 1971. Stras took only 94 pitches to get through 7 full innings, throwing 69% strikes on his way to a 4-hit gem without issuing a single walk.

Of the 21 outs recorded with Strasburg on the mound, 14 were via the strikeout, plus 5 groundouts and a pair of fly outs. The strikeouts came in bunches, with two separate strings of seven consecutive K’s during the game. The second streak of strikeouts encompassed the final seven batters that Stras faced on the day.

The one blemish to Strasburg’s line was the 2-run homer that he served up to Delwyn Young. Stras made a great pitch with a breaking ball that was diving low and away, when Young connected with an off-balance swing that pulled the pitch out of the yard.

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The Mechanics

Strasburg has outstanding mechanics from start to finish, with no major red flags in his delivery. His ceiling is in Skywalker territory, and the efficient motion bodes well for Stras’ chances to reach that ceiling. This is not your typical Nuke LaLoosh prospect that relies on heat alone to succeed, but rather a polished pitcher with command of multiple pitches and advanced knowledge of his craft.

I give out grades for mechanics using the same system and methodology as the 20-80 scouting scale. A score of 50 is considered major league average, and most players will find themselves between 40 and 60 in most categories. Scores of 80 are extremely rare, though more common than in the traditional scale, due to the fact that some of these measurements have an absolute ceiling such as ideal posture or glove position.

Balance                              60

Momentum                        50

Stride                                  55

Hip-Sho. Separation        80

Glove Position                   70

Posture                               65

Repetition                           65

That’s not a typo. Stras is already at major league average or above in every category. Momentum is the only relative weak link, and Strasburg has all of the pieces necessary to improve in that area, and reap the rewards of a longer stride and more kinetic energy through the system.

Glove position, balance, and posture are already approaching ideal efficiency, and he displays greater repetition of his delivery than most players in the majors. Strasburg’s hip-shoulder separation is just freakish. He gets an 80 in the category, a number that is comparable to Tim Lincecum’s 80 grade for stride length. It takes a lot of conditioning and athleticism to generate that kind of torque, and Stras will need to maintain functional strength and flexibility in order to preserve velocity deep into his career.

Strasburg has an extremely polished delivery for a player his age, and the result is incomparable velocity and command. His mechanics are outstanding, and not just for a 22-year old prospect, as they stack up with the best pitchers in the sport.

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The Stuff

If you ever wondered what an 80 fastball looks like, it was on full display Tuesday in Washington. Strasburg was hitting legit triple digits on the gun and maintaining velocity deep into the game. Most impressive was the movement on his fastball, as his 4-seamer had considerable inside run to right-handed hitters. Stras had great command of wicked heat, painting black like a member of the Doors. 

The breaking ball is a jaw-dropper, and Strasburg throws it with some slight variation with respect to velocity, depth, and tilt. With speeds ranging from 79 to 84 mph, Stras uncorked a barrage of breaking stuff with strikingly sharp break. The 20 mph difference to the fastball kept hitters off balance, and the late break had several players flinching away. His advanced command of the pitch is impressive, especially at this stage of his career, which bumps the grade up near the top of the scale to a 70.  

Pitch                              #           Vel (avg)        Vel (max)        Horz Brk            Vert Brk

Fastball                         60            97.52               100.1               -7.22                7.24

Breaking Ball                25            82.18               83.8                 7.38                 -8.10

Changeup                      9             90.16               91.6                 -8.29                -0.37

(Pitch f/x data from www.brooksbaseball.net)

Stras throws a circle change that averages 90 mph. I’ll say that again. His changeup averages 90 mph. The pitch is effective given the 10-mph difference from Strasburg’s heat, but there is room for improvement by taking off a couple ticks and producing a bit more drop on the pitch. He has confidence throwing the circle change, and though he is still harnessing command, the mere presence of the pitch makes the other devastating offerings play up a notch. The Changeup grades out as an average 50 right now, with bonus points for mirroring his fastball delivery, but it has the potential to be a plus pitch in the future. 

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The Approach

Strasburg has the classic bulldog approach on the mound, with a sense of entitlement over the plate and anyone who dares stand next to it. He has the command and confidence to throw anything on the first pitch. Stras was mixing his pitches well on Tuesday, trading off a lot of high-inside fastballs with breaking balls away.

The rookie will also throw any of his pitches with two strikes, and is capable of ringing a guy up with any pitch in his arsenal. When Strasburg struck out the side in the 2^nd inning, he used each of his three pitches to record a K, finishing off hitters with the fastball, breaking ball, and changeup in order.

Strasburg looks like a fierce competitor yet with a steady demeanor on the mound. Even with the eyes of every baseball fan in America piercing through his Nats jersey, Stras was able to block out the distractions and step up his game to the highest level. He calmly backed hitters off the plate, and responded with maturity when Young’s crude drive found the seats. 

Strasburg just grit his teeth, shook it off, and went immediately after the next hitter.