Stephen Strasburg just may be the most exciting addition to baseball we have seen in a very long time. He broke records when he signed his $15.1 million contract with the Washington Nationals in August of 2009. The previous record was held by Mark Prior who signed for $10.5 million in 2001. Many have proclaimed that he is the most exciting prospect in history, so far this year he is living up to his title. He was very exciting to watch and the media has been paying close attention to him.

In his debut game in the major league versus the Pirates, Strasburg picked up his first major league win. He pitched seven innings and is already breaking records. He was the first debut pitcher in history to strike out eleven batters without having any walks. He managed to strike out every single batter on the Pirates lineup at least one time. The expectations for Strasburg are high, as long as he doesn’t injure that bullet of an arm he has; it will be very interesting to follow him throughout his career.

On Friday night he showed us the strength of his change-up pitch against the White Sox. He threw a total of 24 change-up pitches on Friday, and six of ten of his strikeouts came as a result of that pitch. In his previous two major league starts he threw a combined total of only 22 change-ups. While he was in the minors he tended to avoid throwing the change-up as it wasn’t as fast as his other pitches and the batters in the minors actually had a chance to make contact. He used the changeup very well in Friday’s game, and I’m sure we will be seeing a lot more of it.

Keep your eyes open for more from Stephen Strasburg; he is definitely a good player to follow. To watch a game live, I’d recommend getting you Washington Nationals tickets from Elite Sports Tours. They have tickets to every game in every city. Who knows, at this rate maybe Strasburg will be the third player to pitch a perfect game in 2010? That would break some serious records and really put Strasburg on the map.

Elite Girl Jen