Stephen Strasburg
Stephen James Strasburg (/ˈstrɑːsbɜːrɡ/;[1][2] born July 20, 1988) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who spent his entire 13-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the Washington Nationals. Strasburg was selected by Washington with the first overall pick in the 2009 MLB draft. He was a three-time All-Star.
Stephen Strasburg
113–62
3.24
1,723
A talented but unpolished high school baseball player at West Hills High School, Strasburg played college baseball for the San Diego State Aztecs. There, he became one of the best collegiate pitchers in the country. Strasburg pitched for the United States national baseball team at the 2008 Summer Olympics, winning the bronze medal. Two years later, he was called the "most-hyped pick in draft history" by ESPN[3] and the "most hyped and closely watched pitching prospect in the history of baseball" by Sports Illustrated.[4] Strasburg's major league debut in June 2010 produced a franchise-record 14 strikeouts.
Several months into his major league career, Strasburg tore a ligament in his pitching elbow. The injury required Tommy John surgery and a year of rehabilitation. He rejoined the Nationals on September 6, 2011, but was only able to pitch 24 innings that year. Strasburg's 2012 season marked a successful return to form; he was selected to play in the 2012 MLB All-Star Game.[5] Strasburg led the National League (NL) in strikeouts in 2014, pitching an average fastball of 94.8 miles per hour that year.[6] In the 2019 postseason, he recorded five wins, tying the record for most victories in a single postseason, shared by Randy Johnson and Francisco Rodríguez (as well as Nathan Eovaldi, who accomplished the feat four years after Strasburg in the 2023 postseason with the Texas Rangers en route to winning the 2023 World Series).[7] Strasburg also became the first pitcher in MLB history to win five games in a single postseason without recording a loss (with the second being Eovaldi), as Johnson and Rodríguez lost one game in each of their five-win postseasons.[8][9] Strasburg was awarded the 2019 World Series MVP award, as he helped lead the Nationals to victory over the Houston Astros.
Early life[edit]
Strasburg attended West Hills High School in Santee, California. At first, he struggled on the school's baseball team, posting a 1–10 win–loss record in his junior year. A 12-strikeout game against El Capitan High School in his senior year, in which Strasburg allowed just one hit, drew attention from scouts. He finished his senior year with a 1.68 earned run average (ERA) and 74 strikeouts in 62+1⁄3 innings pitched, with seven complete games. He finished with three varsity letters, set school records in ERA and shutouts, and was named his school's 2006 Scholar-Athlete of the Year. He was also named second-team all-league and his team's MVP.[10][11] Despite these achievements, he was not selected in that year's Major League Baseball draft.[12]
Pitching style[edit]
Pitch repertoire and approach[edit]
Strasburg's repertoire featured five pitches: a four-seam fastball, his primary pitch at 95–97 miles per hour (153–156 km/h), which was recorded as high as 100 mph early in his career, and for which in the 2010 season was one of only three starting pitchers to have pitches of over 100 mph, and all did so at least 21 times (Justin Verlander and Ubaldo Jimenez);[121] a two-seam fastball at 94–95 miles per hour (151–153 km/h); a curveball that Strasburg himself refers to as a slurve at 80–83 miles per hour (129–134 km/h); a changeup at 87–90 miles per hour (140–145 km/h).[122][123] and a hybrid pitch he began using regularly in the 2016 season that his catcher Wilson Ramos described as a "slider-cutter", which moves laterally at 87–91 miles per hour (140–146 km/h).[124][125] Strasburg throws a mix of all his pitches to left-handed hitters, but he mostly eliminates the changeup when facing right-handed hitters. He is liable to throw his four-seamer or slurve to right-handers with two strikes, and adds the changeup in those counts against lefties.[126]
His velocity was not significantly affected by his Tommy John surgery in 2010. He had the fastest four-seam fastball among starting pitchers in the 2012 season, averaging 96.5 miles per hour (155 km/h).[127] However, in seven seasons after Tommy John surgery he only had one pitch surpass 100 mph.[121]
Strasburg has a high strikeout rate of 11.2 per 9 innings through his first 251+1⁄3 MLB innings.[128] This corresponds with high swing-and-miss rates across all of his pitches, including 54% on his changeup—the highest whiff rate among all starting pitchers' changeups since PITCHf/x began tracking pitches.[129] Through the 2012 season, Strasburg's career strikeout-to-walk ratio of 4.67 would rank second all-time if he had enough innings to qualify.[130] Strasburg maintains that his high strikeout rate is not intentional, and in fact is a hindrance to maintaining low pitch counts.[131]
Personal life[edit]
Strasburg was born in San Diego, California,[135][136] to Jim Strasburg, a real estate developer, and Kathleen Swett Strasburg, a dietician.[137] He grew up a San Diego Padres fan.[138]
Strasburg credits his maternal grandmother with helping him develop his baseball skills as a child. She would frequently play catch and even work on pitching with him. He labels her as one of his biggest inspirations.[139]
On January 9, 2010, he married Rachel Lackey. They met as students at San Diego State.[140] As of 2024, the couple has three daughters.[141] The Strasburgs relocated full-time to Washington, D.C., in 2018[142] and lived a short drive from Nationals Park, according to The Washington Post.[143] In 2024, the family relocated to San Diego.[141]
On June 24, 2014, Strasburg stated in an interview that he was going to stop chewing tobacco in the wake of his college coach Tony Gwynn's death,[144] although he admitted to The Washington Post two years later that he had not yet completely kicked the addiction.[145]