Tribune News ServicesTop prospect Stephen Strasburg made his spring training debut for the Washington Nationals on Tuesday, pitching two scoreless innings against the Detroit Tigers in Viera, Fla.
Strasburg threw 15 of his 27 pitches for strikes and allowed two hits, successive two-out singles by Don Kelly and Alex Avila in the second. But the right-hander finished off Brent Dlugach with a bending, 81 mph breaking ball for an inning-ending strikeout.
"I just wanted to go out there and throw strikes," he said. "If they hit it, they hit it. Big deal. I have enough confidence in my stuff that if I can go out there and make them put the ball in play, I've got a great defense behind me that's going to back me up."
Photo: Stephen Strasburg delivers a pitch during his spring debut Tuesday for the Nationals. (Charlie Riedel/AP)
Strasburg was selected with the No. 1 overall pick in last year's
draft and received a record $15.1 million, four-year contract from the
Nationals. He went 13-1 in his final season with San Diego State,
leading Division I pitchers in ERA (1.35) and strikeouts (195 in 109
innings).
Strasburg's fastball against the Tigers was consistently measured in the 97-98 mph range and he struck out two. He had some problems with location and threw first-pitch strikes to only two of the eight batters he faced.
"Command wasn't really there, but I think a lot of that had to do with the adrenaline going on," he said. "It's something that happens to me every time -- even in college, even in high school. That first outing, there's all this excitement and it's really difficult to control the adrenaline and make sure you're staying nice and relaxed."
Strasburg's fastball against the Tigers was consistently measured in the 97-98 mph range and he struck out two. He had some problems with location and threw first-pitch strikes to only two of the eight batters he faced.
"Command wasn't really there, but I think a lot of that had to do with the adrenaline going on," he said. "It's something that happens to me every time -- even in college, even in high school. That first outing, there's all this excitement and it's really difficult to control the adrenaline and make sure you're staying nice and relaxed."
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