[quote]therajraj wrote:
Even if they had Utley and Howard they would be in major trouble.
I think they’ll still win the division but will go away quietly in the postseason[/quote]
I hope your right, but I have a feeling they are going to go on a tear at some point.
The Padres are so fucking bad. I’d be surprised if they won 60 games this year. Until they get a new owner they are going to suck a big fat dick.
Can I change my MVP to Hamilton? dude is fucking tearing it up, another HR today. Also Strasburg is showing again today that he will never be a top flight pitcher by going 6 IP 0 ER against the Marlins so far.
[quote]Maiden3.16 wrote:
Can I change my MVP to Hamilton? dude is fucking tearing it up, another HR today. Also Strasburg is showing again today that he will never be a top flight pitcher by going 6 IP 0 ER against the Marlins so far. [/quote]
Isn’t he in a contract year?
It’s true he has been unconscious up to this point, but if I were the Rangers I wouldn’t resign him. With the dollars and years he will demand, you could throw that money at someone who doesn’t require an accountabilibuddy. I don’t think he is worth the risk.
The red sox bullpen is in serious fucking trouble. 15 runs against today up to this point
Perfect game by Humber that ended up on strike em out throw em out.
That and the Red Sox bullpen implosion, I couldn’t stop laughing on that one.
[quote]strungoutboy21 wrote:
Perfect game by Humber that ended up on strike em out throw em out.
That and the Red Sox bullpen implosion, I couldn’t stop laughing on that one.[/quote]
Wow this sucks for the Mets, a org that has never thrown a No hitter no less a perfect game ever and one of their farmhands throws a perfect game on another team…
SUCK IT BOBBY V!
When the San Francisco Giants tied their game this afternoon against the New York Mets in the top-of-the-ninth inning on a pop-up by pinch-hitter Brandon Belt to shallow centerfield (a play that was promptly â??Metsedâ?? by Ruben Tejada and Kirk Nieuwenhuis), little did the baseball world know that that play would be the second-most surprising thing to happen in the game.
With Ryan Theriot apparently unavailable, the Giants decided their best course of action when faced with a short bench, was to put Aubrey Huff (yes, the same Aubrey Huff who incompetently plays first base) at second base. Huff then inexplicably forgot to cover second on a potential inning-ending double play grounder to Manny Burriss, loading the bases. One Buster Posey throwing error later and the Mets won the game.
LOL gotta love Aubrey Huff.
[quote]Maiden3.16 wrote:
Can I change my MVP to Hamilton? dude is fucking tearing it up, another HR today. Also Strasburg is showing again today that he will never be a top flight pitcher by going 6 IP 0 ER against the Marlins so far. [/quote]
Last I checked, top-flight pitchers don’t get pinch-hit for after only 6 innings and 94 pitches when they’re in the middle of a shutout. When he proves that he can throw 200+ innings, make 35 starts and throw 100+ pitches per start over the course of a full season, THEN I’ll consider him a top-flight pitcher. And then you make all the thinly-veiled comments toward me about him that you want. But until then, temper your enthusiasm a little bit.
I’m sorry, but there’s simply NO WAY you can consider a starting pitcher with a 160-inning limit one of the top pitchers in the game. Entering this season, I would have taken about a dozen pitchers over him (Kershaw, Verlander, Halladay, Cain, Felix, Hamels, Lee, Sabathia, Weaver, Haren, Wilson, and maybe even Price or Shields). Why? Because the toughest, most important innings a starting pitcher throws are innings 160 thru 200-220. Those are down-the-stretch, crunch-time innings. Those are the innings where every day is a fucking grind through August and September and if you can pitch well consistently at that time of the year, you separate yourself from the rest of the pack and, provided your team is in contention, those are the innings that mean the most to your team. Unless things change, which I doubt they will, Strasburg will be shut down at 160 innings. So while he rests, the top-flight pitchers will be grinding away down the stretch. When he’s one of those guys and he dominates the way he is now, then he’s a top-flight pitcher.
He may be throwing better than just about anyone in the majors right now, but until the above is true he simply isn’t in that upper-echelon yet. In that game, a top-flight pitcher throws into the 7th or 8th and gives his team a better chance to win. Right now, he’s simply a really, really good pitcher with an innings limit.
[quote]DBCooper wrote:
[quote]Maiden3.16 wrote:
Can I change my MVP to Hamilton? dude is fucking tearing it up, another HR today. Also Strasburg is showing again today that he will never be a top flight pitcher by going 6 IP 0 ER against the Marlins so far. [/quote]
Last I checked, top-flight pitchers don’t get pinch-hit for after only 6 innings and 94 pitches when they’re in the middle of a shutout. When he proves that he can throw 200+ innings, make 35 starts and throw 100+ pitches per start over the course of a full season, THEN I’ll consider him a top-flight pitcher. And then you make all the thinly-veiled comments toward me about him that you want. But until then, temper your enthusiasm a little bit.
I’m sorry, but there’s simply NO WAY you can consider a starting pitcher with a 160-inning limit one of the top pitchers in the game. Entering this season, I would have taken about a dozen pitchers over him (Kershaw, Verlander, Halladay, Cain, Felix, Hamels, Lee, Sabathia, Weaver, Haren, Wilson, and maybe even ). Why? Because the toughest, most important innings a starting pitcher throws are innings 160 thru 200-220. Those are down-the-stretch, crunch-time innings. Those are the innings where every day is a fucking grind through August and September and if you can pitch well consistently at that time of the year, you separate yourself from the rest of the pack and, provided your team is in contention, those are the innings that mean the most to your team. Unless things change, which I doubt they will, Strasburg will be shut down at 160 innings. So while he rests, the top-flight pitchers will be grinding away down the stretch. When he’s one of those guys and he dominates the way he is now, then he’s a top-flight pitcher.
He may be throwing better than just about anyone in the majors right now, but until the above is true he simply isn’t in that upper-echelon yet. In that game, a top-flight pitcher throws into the 7th or 8th and gives his team a better chance to win. Right now, he’s simply a really, really good pitcher with an innings limit.[/quote]
He said Strasburg will never be a top flight pitcher for only pitching six innnings, so basically he agreed with you.
[quote]strungoutboy21 wrote:
[quote]DBCooper wrote:
[quote]Maiden3.16 wrote:
Can I change my MVP to Hamilton? dude is fucking tearing it up, another HR today. Also Strasburg is showing again today that he will never be a top flight pitcher by going 6 IP 0 ER against the Marlins so far. [/quote]
Last I checked, top-flight pitchers don’t get pinch-hit for after only 6 innings and 94 pitches when they’re in the middle of a shutout. When he proves that he can throw 200+ innings, make 35 starts and throw 100+ pitches per start over the course of a full season, THEN I’ll consider him a top-flight pitcher. And then you make all the thinly-veiled comments toward me about him that you want. But until then, temper your enthusiasm a little bit.
I’m sorry, but there’s simply NO WAY you can consider a starting pitcher with a 160-inning limit one of the top pitchers in the game. Entering this season, I would have taken about a dozen pitchers over him (Kershaw, Verlander, Halladay, Cain, Felix, Hamels, Lee, Sabathia, Weaver, Haren, Wilson, and maybe even ). Why? Because the toughest, most important innings a starting pitcher throws are innings 160 thru 200-220. Those are down-the-stretch, crunch-time innings. Those are the innings where every day is a fucking grind through August and September and if you can pitch well consistently at that time of the year, you separate yourself from the rest of the pack and, provided your team is in contention, those are the innings that mean the most to your team. Unless things change, which I doubt they will, Strasburg will be shut down at 160 innings. So while he rests, the top-flight pitchers will be grinding away down the stretch. When he’s one of those guys and he dominates the way he is now, then he’s a top-flight pitcher.
He may be throwing better than just about anyone in the majors right now, but until the above is true he simply isn’t in that upper-echelon yet. In that game, a top-flight pitcher throws into the 7th or 8th and gives his team a better chance to win. Right now, he’s simply a really, really good pitcher with an innings limit.[/quote]
He said Strasburg will never be a top flight pitcher for only pitching six innnings, so basically he agreed with you.[/quote]
Actually, he posted that while Strasburg was still in the game. The implication, to me anyways, was that Strasburg was pitching like a top-flight pitcher thus far and that he would continue to do so in that particular game. (6 innings “so far”)
However, my whole point is that the top-flight pitchers are separated from the ones that are merely “very good” by what they do in the 7th, 8th or 9th innings. Strasburg didn’t throw into the 7th, and he certainly won’t be given many opportunities to do so this year. So for those reasons I think that pointing to a 6 inning, 0 ER start is definitely not inaccurate if you want to argue that he has good stuff and a lot of potential. But if we’re talking about top-flight pitchers, the conversation doesn’t even begin until the 7th inning or later, and September/October performances. Anybody can throw well in April for 6 innings. Very few can throw well later than that in both the game itself and later in the season.
[quote]strungoutboy21 wrote:
[quote]DBCooper wrote:
[quote]Maiden3.16 wrote:
Can I change my MVP to Hamilton? dude is fucking tearing it up, another HR today. Also Strasburg is showing again today that he will never be a top flight pitcher by going 6 IP 0 ER against the Marlins so far. [/quote]
Last I checked, top-flight pitchers don’t get pinch-hit for after only 6 innings and 94 pitches when they’re in the middle of a shutout. When he proves that he can throw 200+ innings, make 35 starts and throw 100+ pitches per start over the course of a full season, THEN I’ll consider him a top-flight pitcher. And then you make all the thinly-veiled comments toward me about him that you want. But until then, temper your enthusiasm a little bit.
I’m sorry, but there’s simply NO WAY you can consider a starting pitcher with a 160-inning limit one of the top pitchers in the game. Entering this season, I would have taken about a dozen pitchers over him (Kershaw, Verlander, Halladay, Cain, Felix, Hamels, Lee, Sabathia, Weaver, Haren, Wilson, and maybe even ). Why? Because the toughest, most important innings a starting pitcher throws are innings 160 thru 200-220. Those are down-the-stretch, crunch-time innings. Those are the innings where every day is a fucking grind through August and September and if you can pitch well consistently at that time of the year, you separate yourself from the rest of the pack and, provided your team is in contention, those are the innings that mean the most to your team. Unless things change, which I doubt they will, Strasburg will be shut down at 160 innings. So while he rests, the top-flight pitchers will be grinding away down the stretch. When he’s one of those guys and he dominates the way he is now, then he’s a top-flight pitcher.
He may be throwing better than just about anyone in the majors right now, but until the above is true he simply isn’t in that upper-echelon yet. In that game, a top-flight pitcher throws into the 7th or 8th and gives his team a better chance to win. Right now, he’s simply a really, really good pitcher with an innings limit.[/quote]
He said Strasburg will never be a top flight pitcher for only pitching six innnings, so basically he agreed with you.[/quote]
In other words, sarcasm detector fail.
[quote]DBCooper wrote:
[quote]Maiden3.16 wrote:
Can I change my MVP to Hamilton? dude is fucking tearing it up, another HR today. Also Strasburg is showing again today that he will never be a top flight pitcher by going 6 IP 0 ER against the Marlins so far. [/quote]
Last I checked, top-flight pitchers don’t get pinch-hit for after only 6 innings and 94 pitches when they’re in the middle of a shutout. When he proves that he can throw 200+ innings, make 35 starts and throw 100+ pitches per start over the course of a full season, THEN I’ll consider him a top-flight pitcher. And then you make all the thinly-veiled comments toward me about him that you want. But until then, temper your enthusiasm a little bit.
I’m sorry, but there’s simply NO WAY you can consider a starting pitcher with a 160-inning limit one of the top pitchers in the game. Entering this season, I would have taken about a dozen pitchers over him (Kershaw, Verlander, Halladay, Cain, Felix, Hamels, Lee, Sabathia, Weaver, Haren, Wilson, and maybe even Price or Shields). Why? Because the toughest, most important innings a starting pitcher throws are innings 160 thru 200-220. Those are down-the-stretch, crunch-time innings. Those are the innings where every day is a fucking grind through August and September and if you can pitch well consistently at that time of the year, you separate yourself from the rest of the pack and, provided your team is in contention, those are the innings that mean the most to your team. Unless things change, which I doubt they will, Strasburg will be shut down at 160 innings. So while he rests, the top-flight pitchers will be grinding away down the stretch. When he’s one of those guys and he dominates the way he is now, then he’s a top-flight pitcher.
He may be throwing better than just about anyone in the majors right now, but until the above is true he simply isn’t in that upper-echelon yet. In that game, a top-flight pitcher throws into the 7th or 8th and gives his team a better chance to win. Right now, he’s simply a really, really good pitcher with an innings limit.[/quote]
Strasburg is the Ace of that staff (which is a pretty decent staff btw) and has done nothing but be successful since his first day in the bigs. You can make “top fligh pitcher” into whatever definition you want to keep stranburg out of that category your mind, but imo 3ER in 25 innings so far is pretty damn good for someone you said will NEVER be a top flight pitcher because you think you are some expert on mechanics and he is “flawed.”
There may be a bit of confusion here.
I think what DB is saying is that Strasburg hasn’t earned the title of “top flight” pitcher to this point in his career. In order to earn that title, a player must pass a certain threshold, which I have to say I agree. While the very beginning of his career has been impressive, 25 IP should be taken as a mild sign of promise and nothing more.
However, I think the disagreement stems from his skeptical position on Strasburg’s health not his actual stuff. Assuming for a second that health will not be a concern for him moving forward, I doubt DB would disagree with you.
Personally, I haven’t even seen him pitch. I only catch bits and pieces of the ongoings of the No-Hit League (NL).
[quote]pat wrote:
[quote]Anonymity wrote:
[quote]DBCooper wrote:
In other news, Ozzie Guillen is back at the helm for the Marlins. What do you guys think of Guillen as a manager? Personally, if I was a GM or an owner I wouldn’t want anything to do with him. The whole thing with the Castro comments didn’t really surprise me in all honesty. The guy is a major distraction waiting to happen. We haven’t even seen any bizarre tweets from his kid yet and he’s already in the middle of a major controversy. I can’t imagine his players enjoy playing for a manager who brings so much attention on himself and the team.
Shit, for what it’s worth I wasn’t really crazy about the Valentine hiring in Boston either. The team clearly had some discipline issues last year that went beyond the whole beer-drinking thing. A guy like Valentine seems like he’s more likely to alienate the players in need of an attitude adjustment than straighten them out. Fuck, half the players on the team didn’t even think there was a problem in the clubhouse last year; they just played poorly at the wrong time of the year and things snowballed on them. That shit happens. So I can see how those players would be quick to be resentful toward Valentine from Day One if he’s brought in at least in part to straighten out a problem that they don’t even think ever existed to begin with.
And then he pops off and says some stupid shit about Youkilis in public to a fucking sportswriter of all people (they’re the scum of the Earth) instead of to his face behind closed doors and you have the beginnings of a serious problem in Boston. Bad hire. I don’t think Epstein would have hired him, that’s for sure.[/quote]
Had to watch Ozzie manage for many years in a white sox uniform, always thought he was the king of idiots. I was elated when they canned his ass.[/quote]
But I just don’t see why Chicagoans(?) don’t rally around the WS like they do the Cubs? I guess I’d have to live there to understand, but the WS are consistently better, and have way lower attendance…
Of course I am one to talk, I live in ATL and our attendance sucks too, however the reason for that is rooted in the lay out of the city and woeful transportation issues. Plain and simple, for us, if it were easier to get there, we’d go a hell of a lot more.
I mean, this town is football crazy. I mean it’s nuts, and we still don’t sell out football games and we have a winning team. [/quote]
It has to do with the location of Comiskey/U.S. Cellular. The stadium is located on the south side of Chicago which was once one of the roughest and poorest areas in Chicago.
Wrigleyville and the surrounding neighborhoods are very gentrified and more affluent, where people have the discretionary income to spend on ballgames.
[quote]Maiden3.16 wrote:
[quote]DBCooper wrote:
[quote]Maiden3.16 wrote:
Can I change my MVP to Hamilton? dude is fucking tearing it up, another HR today. Also Strasburg is showing again today that he will never be a top flight pitcher by going 6 IP 0 ER against the Marlins so far. [/quote]
Last I checked, top-flight pitchers don’t get pinch-hit for after only 6 innings and 94 pitches when they’re in the middle of a shutout. When he proves that he can throw 200+ innings, make 35 starts and throw 100+ pitches per start over the course of a full season, THEN I’ll consider him a top-flight pitcher. And then you make all the thinly-veiled comments toward me about him that you want. But until then, temper your enthusiasm a little bit.
I’m sorry, but there’s simply NO WAY you can consider a starting pitcher with a 160-inning limit one of the top pitchers in the game. Entering this season, I would have taken about a dozen pitchers over him (Kershaw, Verlander, Halladay, Cain, Felix, Hamels, Lee, Sabathia, Weaver, Haren, Wilson, and maybe even Price or Shields). Why? Because the toughest, most important innings a starting pitcher throws are innings 160 thru 200-220. Those are down-the-stretch, crunch-time innings. Those are the innings where every day is a fucking grind through August and September and if you can pitch well consistently at that time of the year, you separate yourself from the rest of the pack and, provided your team is in contention, those are the innings that mean the most to your team. Unless things change, which I doubt they will, Strasburg will be shut down at 160 innings. So while he rests, the top-flight pitchers will be grinding away down the stretch. When he’s one of those guys and he dominates the way he is now, then he’s a top-flight pitcher.
He may be throwing better than just about anyone in the majors right now, but until the above is true he simply isn’t in that upper-echelon yet. In that game, a top-flight pitcher throws into the 7th or 8th and gives his team a better chance to win. Right now, he’s simply a really, really good pitcher with an innings limit.[/quote]
Strasburg is the Ace of that staff (which is a pretty decent staff btw) and has done nothing but be successful since his first day in the bigs. You can make “top fligh pitcher” into whatever definition you want to keep stranburg out of that category your mind, but imo 3ER in 25 innings so far is pretty damn good for someone you said will NEVER be a top flight pitcher because you think you are some expert on mechanics and he is “flawed.”
[/quote]
Give me a fucking break. 25 innings is a completely irrelevant sample size. If 25 innings and 3 earned runs makes a pitcher top-flight, what makes a pitcher who hasn’t allowed a baserunner in his last 9 innings of work? God? Would anyone here consider Phil Humber top-flight? Of course not.
Furthermore, yes, Strasburg has dominated when he’s pitched. WHEN being the key word. We’re talking about someone who has made a grand total of 20 starts in the major leagues, over the course of almost two years. 20 starts, with a major elbow reconstruction surgery in the middle, is hardly enough of a sample size to call someone already a top-flight pitcher. The sample size tells me that he CAN be that good when he’s healthy. I mean, we’re talking about a pitcher with less than a year’s worth of experience in the majors. Even if he had accumulated all 20 starts in one season instead of sandwiched around an elbow surgery and a shoulder injury, it’s still too small a sample size to say that he’s arrived. And when a pitcher is a top-flight pitcher, he has ARRIVED. Strasburg is on his way, but he hasn’t arrived yet.
[quote]therajraj wrote:
There may be a bit of confusion here.
I think what DB is saying is that Strasburg hasn’t earned the title of “top flight” pitcher to this point in his career. In order to earn that title, a player must pass a certain threshold, which I have to say I agree. While the very beginning of his career has been impressive, 25 IP should be taken as a mild sign of promise and nothing more.
However, I think the disagreement stems from his skeptical position on Strasburg’s health not his actual stuff. Assuming for a second that health will not be a concern for him moving forward, I doubt DB would disagree with you.
Personally, I haven’t even seen him pitch. I only catch bits and pieces of the ongoings of the No-Hit League (NL).[/quote]
Ok, in 117 IP he has a 2.23 ERA w/ 141K, he has more than this year’s 25 IP track record. It’s one thing to say strasburg hasn’t earned the title of “top flight pitcher,” it’s another to say he will never earn it when his performance had done nothing but indicate otherwise.
[quote]therajraj wrote:
There may be a bit of confusion here.
I think what DB is saying is that Strasburg hasn’t earned the title of “top flight” pitcher to this point in his career. In order to earn that title, a player must pass a certain threshold, which I have to say I agree. While the very beginning of his career has been impressive, 25 IP should be taken as a mild sign of promise and nothing more.
However, I think the disagreement stems from his skeptical position on Strasburg’s health not his actual stuff. Assuming for a second that health will not be a concern for him moving forward, I doubt DB would disagree with you.
Personally, I haven’t even seen him pitch. I only catch bits and pieces of the ongoings of the No-Hit League (NL).[/quote]
I definitely don’t disagree concerning his stuff. It’s the best stuff this side of Verlander that there is in the majors. There’s really only a couple pitchers who could even enter that conversation.
If he stays healthy, he’s definitely on his way to being THE pitcher in the majors. But that’s a big if. Right now, for every ten starts he makes he’s averaging something like 6 months on the DL. That stat is as significant as anything he’s accumulated in his career to date.
[quote]Maiden3.16 wrote:
[quote]therajraj wrote:
There may be a bit of confusion here.
I think what DB is saying is that Strasburg hasn’t earned the title of “top flight” pitcher to this point in his career. In order to earn that title, a player must pass a certain threshold, which I have to say I agree. While the very beginning of his career has been impressive, 25 IP should be taken as a mild sign of promise and nothing more.
However, I think the disagreement stems from his skeptical position on Strasburg’s health not his actual stuff. Assuming for a second that health will not be a concern for him moving forward, I doubt DB would disagree with you.
Personally, I haven’t even seen him pitch. I only catch bits and pieces of the ongoings of the No-Hit League (NL).[/quote]
Ok, in 117 IP he has a 2.23 ERA w/ 141K, he has more than this year’s 25 IP track record. It’s one thing to say strasburg hasn’t earned the title of “top flight pitcher,” it’s another to say he will never earn it when his performance had done nothing but indicate otherwise.
[/quote]
Those stats are significant, but so is this one: 20 starts, two trips to the disabled list. He’s spent more time on the DL than he has pitching. That is just as much an indicator of potential as anything he does on the mound. So it seems that we’re at an impasse. Except that the mechanics that led to his arm problems appear, in my opinion anyways, to be largely unchanged.
[quote]DBCooper wrote:
[quote]Maiden3.16 wrote:
[quote]DBCooper wrote:
[quote]Maiden3.16 wrote:
Can I change my MVP to Hamilton? dude is fucking tearing it up, another HR today. Also Strasburg is showing again today that he will never be a top flight pitcher by going 6 IP 0 ER against the Marlins so far. [/quote]
Last I checked, top-flight pitchers don’t get pinch-hit for after only 6 innings and 94 pitches when they’re in the middle of a shutout. When he proves that he can throw 200+ innings, make 35 starts and throw 100+ pitches per start over the course of a full season, THEN I’ll consider him a top-flight pitcher. And then you make all the thinly-veiled comments toward me about him that you want. But until then, temper your enthusiasm a little bit.
I’m sorry, but there’s simply NO WAY you can consider a starting pitcher with a 160-inning limit one of the top pitchers in the game. Entering this season, I would have taken about a dozen pitchers over him (Kershaw, Verlander, Halladay, Cain, Felix, Hamels, Lee, Sabathia, Weaver, Haren, Wilson, and maybe even Price or Shields). Why? Because the toughest, most important innings a starting pitcher throws are innings 160 thru 200-220. Those are down-the-stretch, crunch-time innings. Those are the innings where every day is a fucking grind through August and September and if you can pitch well consistently at that time of the year, you separate yourself from the rest of the pack and, provided your team is in contention, those are the innings that mean the most to your team. Unless things change, which I doubt they will, Strasburg will be shut down at 160 innings. So while he rests, the top-flight pitchers will be grinding away down the stretch. When he’s one of those guys and he dominates the way he is now, then he’s a top-flight pitcher.
He may be throwing better than just about anyone in the majors right now, but until the above is true he simply isn’t in that upper-echelon yet. In that game, a top-flight pitcher throws into the 7th or 8th and gives his team a better chance to win. Right now, he’s simply a really, really good pitcher with an innings limit.[/quote]
Strasburg is the Ace of that staff (which is a pretty decent staff btw) and has done nothing but be successful since his first day in the bigs. You can make “top fligh pitcher” into whatever definition you want to keep stranburg out of that category your mind, but imo 3ER in 25 innings so far is pretty damn good for someone you said will NEVER be a top flight pitcher because you think you are some expert on mechanics and he is “flawed.”
[/quote]
Give me a fucking break. 25 innings is a completely irrelevant sample size. If 25 innings and 3 earned runs makes a pitcher top-flight, what makes a pitcher who hasn’t allowed a baserunner in his last 9 innings of work? God? Would anyone here consider Phil Humber top-flight? Of course not.
Furthermore, yes, Strasburg has dominated when he’s pitched. WHEN being the key word. We’re talking about someone who has made a grand total of 20 starts in the major leagues, over the course of almost two years. 20 starts, with a major elbow reconstruction surgery in the middle, is hardly enough of a sample size to call someone already a top-flight pitcher. The sample size tells me that he CAN be that good when he’s healthy. I mean, we’re talking about a pitcher with less than a year’s worth of experience in the majors. Even if he had accumulated all 20 starts in one season instead of sandwiched around an elbow surgery and a shoulder injury, it’s still too small a sample size to say that he’s arrived. And when a pitcher is a top-flight pitcher, he has ARRIVED. Strasburg is on his way, but he hasn’t arrived yet.[/quote]
Atleast you acknkowledge his is on his way there as opposed to never getting there.