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[SniperSB23]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

How do you know what his fastest pitch ever was? There was no public radar readings in the late 60/early 70's when Ryan started. Your inference that somehow Ryan was not throwing that fast when he was Strausburgs age is faulty. Ryan had already pitched over 200 major league innings at the same age that SS is going to debut at as well. There is zero evidence that throwing a baseball a certain mph causes injuries. In fact the fastball is generally considered to be the kindest and most straight forward pitch a player can throw.

I'm not sure why you think that Nolan Ryan wasnt regularly throwing as fast as SS. As for SS, he doesnt rely on throwing the ball over 100 mph. I'm not sure where you got that impression. The guy throws very hard but lives in the 95-98 range with very good breaking balls, a hard slider and slurve. He has even mixed in a little changeup though it may not be ready for too much MLB exposure.

That may be true on Ryan, I know he hit 100.9 in 1974 but I don't know what sort of radars they had before that, so maybe he was throwing harder earlier. He was a freak though, we'll have to see if Strasburg is.

So far he is throwing in that range in the minors and if he can do that in the majors and get away with it he will be very good. In college he was throwing much harder and was hitting and exceeding 100 with regularity. If he has to do that in the majors I think he is in trouble.

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by SniperSB23

That may be true on Ryan, I know he hit 100.9 in 1974 but I don't know what sort of radars they had before that, so maybe he was throwing harder earlier. He was a freak though, we'll have to see if Strasburg is.

So far he is throwing in that range in the minors and if he can do that in the majors and get away with it he will be very good. In college he was throwing much harder and was hitting and exceeding 100 with regularity. If he has to do that in the majors I think he is in trouble.

In college he was pitching once a week and I find it hard to believe he was throwing faster than he is now. The fact is that some places soup up the radar guns. You are misinterpreting what makes a good pitcher. He isnt great because he throws so fast. He is great because he throws so fast accurately.

[Antitrust32]

I always thought it was the guys who relied on curveballs and breaking balls that have the most arm trouble. Didnt really equate it with the fastball.

[Cannon Shell]

Seriously there is zero % chance that he wont be successful in the MLB because of his stuff. You dont have to be a grizzled scout to see that. The key is can he stretch it out to 200+ innings per year? He has been throwing 100 innings a year and low leverage innings at that since he allows so few baserunners. Obviously in the majors the talent level is much higher than the majority of what he has faced. But the dominance that he has displayed in Spring training and the upper levels of the minors is rare. There simply aren't any cases of a pitcher this dominant not making it in the majors without injury issues. ALL pitchers are injury risks as none of them escape not getting hurt at least occasionally. There are some that are critical of his mechanics yet those guys were also pessimistic on Lincecum and K Rod as well. We have seen how that has worked out.

[Antitrust32]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

Seriously there is zero % chance that he wont be successful in the MLB because of his stuff. You dont have to be a grizzled scout to see that. The key is can he stretch it out to 200+ innings per year? He has been throwing 100 innings a year and low leverage innings at that since he allows so few baserunners. Obviously in the majors the talent level is much higher than the majority of what he has faced. But the dominance that he has displayed in Spring training and the upper levels of the minors is rare. There simply aren't any cases of a pitcher this dominant not making it in the majors without injury issues. ALL pitchers are injury risks as none of them escape not getting hurt at least occasionally. There are some that are critical of his mechanics yet those guys were also pessimistic on Lincecum and K Rod as well. We have seen how that has worked out.

I expect SS to immediatly be a top 10 pitcher in the league (stuff wise). Once he's able to throw 9 innings he'll be a top 3 pitcher immediately.

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by Antitrust32

I expect SS to immediatly be a top 10 pitcher in the league (stuff wise). Once he's able to throw 9 innings he'll be a top 3 pitcher immediately.

LOL There isnt any such thing as a 9 inning pitcher anymore, Halladay the freak notwithstanding...

Because his innings will be limited for at least this and next year it is hard to put him in the top 10. There are a lot of really good pitchers right now.

In no particular order off the top of my head
Halladay
Jimenez
Linecum
Sabathia
Santana
Wainwright
Carpenter
Kershaw
Lee
Hernandez
Lester

thats a tough 11 to crack

[Antitrust32]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

LOL There isnt any such thing as a 9 inning pitcher anymore, Halladay the freak notwithstanding...

Because his innings will be limited for at least this and next year it is hard to put him in the top 10. There are a lot of really good pitchers right now.

In no particular order off the top of my head
Halladay
Jimenez
Linecum
Sabathia
Santana
Wainwright
Carpenter
Kershaw
Lee
Hernandez
Lester

thats a tough 11 to crack

Lots of good NL pitchers on that list!!!

thats why I said "stuff wise". Obviously if he's given a 80 pitch count or 6 inning limit, he cant come close to those 11, but as far as his stuff, I think he'll immediately belong on that list. Once his endurance is up he'll be near the top.

How crazy, after this draft, Nationals will have Nolan Ryan re-incarnated and Mickey Mantle re-incarnated (that 17 year old kid). Nationals sure picked great years to finish with the worst record in baseball!

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by Antitrust32

Lots of good NL pitchers on that list!!!

thats why I said "stuff wise". Obviously if he's given a 80 pitch count or 6 inning limit, he cant come close to those 11, but as far as his stuff, I think he'll immediately belong on that list. Once his endurance is up he'll be near the top.

How crazy, after this draft, Nationals will have Nolan Ryan re-incarnated and Mickey Mantle re-incarnated (that 17 year old kid). Nationals sure picked great years to finish with the worst record in baseball!

Harper plays C now and may be moved to a corner OF position. Washington has some pieces. Drew Storen the #10 pick last year has already been called up and is a set up man and will be the future closer. They have a 5 star catching prospect named Derek Norris that should be ready mid year 2011. They also have Danny Espinosa who is a 4 star SS who may be ready to start next year. Jordan Zimmerman might be back late this year and Ryan Zimmerman is already one of the best 3b in baseball. They arent that far from being good.