It was a festival atmosphere in Hagerstown on Sunday afternoon as Stephen Strasburg took the mound at Municipal Stadium, with the sold-out crowd of more than 6,000 on their feet. The phenom was slated for around 2 innings on the steamy afternoon game, and threw 1 2/3 innings and 31 pitches, giving up 3 hits and a run.
The lone run came on a fastball that Jacob Realmuto, a 20-year old from Midwest City, Oklahoma, launched well over the right-center field wall at Municipal Stadium. It was Strasburg’s only mistake of the day, in the shortened start. He recorded four strikeouts and no walks against Greensboro.
After the game, Strasburg took questions from a limited number of reporters, but fortunately it was caught by MASN Sports, who’ve embedded it on Ben Goessling’s blog. Strasburg’s velocity was reported to be around his average for last season around 97mph, and he seemed to be comfortable mixing his two-seam and four-seam fastballs and his change up, and we saw at least one K due to his curve ball, which made an appearance or two. It looked like he was getting some late motion on his change up, as well, which fanned two more.
It’s not yet clear where Strasburg’s next start will be, but Friday is likely to be the day. Possible places include High A Potomac who are home against Myrtle Beach, or AA Harrisburg home against Trenton.
It’s likely Strasburg will return to the Nationals by the first week of September, completing his year-long recovery from Tommy John surgery.
More photos in our Flickr Set: Two Innings in Hagerstown
I live and work in the District of Columbia. I write at We Love DC, a blog I helped start, I work at Technolutionary, a company I helped start, and I’m happy doing both. I enjoy watching baseball, cooking, and gardening. I grow a mean pepper, keep a clean scorebook, and wash the dishes when I’m done. Read Why I Love DC.
One thing some overlooked is the fact that the Greensboro batters had an advantage on Strasburg, knowing he would be throwing mostly fastballs.
Still, he looked great.