For Lucas Giolito and the Washington Nationals, the future is now

With Lucas Giolito making his big league debut tonight in place of the injured Stephen Strasburg, the Washington Nationals get a glimpse of a promising future.

We all knew it was coming. Whether it happened this summer, in September, or next season, the next big thing was right around the corner for the Washington Nationals.

Lucas Giolito has all the skills and hype that have brought players like Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper to stardom with the Nationals. He’s the team’s best prospect, the top prospect in all of baseball, and one of the most exciting young talents in the game. And now, he’s finally here.

Whether he’s ready or not, Giolito will make his big league debut tonight against Matt Harvey and the Mets. It wasn’t supposed to happen this way; the Nationals wanted to promote Giolito to Triple-A Syracuse first, but an injury to Stephen Strasburg changed everything.

Now, the Nationals will get a glimpse of the team’s future — a future led by the stars of today and several minor league pitchers and prospects with superstar potential, headlined by Giolito.

For the first time ever, Giolito will bring his massive 6-foot-6 frame, his explosive fastball and his filthy, powerful 12-to-6 curveball to Nationals Park. When he’s on his game, Giolito can be un-hittable.

Of course, Giolito probably isn’t here to stay. He’ll pitch tonight and on a “start by start” basis until Strasburg returns. After that, he’ll likely be headed to Syracuse, unless he takes someone else’s spot in the rotation, which isn’t completely out of the question (see Gonzalez, Gio).

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What we do know is that Giolito will be the starter tonight, and he’ll likely be a permanent fixture in the rotation at some point in the not-so-distant future.

Expectations will undoubtedly be high for Giolito tonight. They’ll be unreasonably high, just as they were for Strasburg when he made his much-hyped debut six years ago. Of course, Strasburg met and surpassed those expectations, and Giolito may very well do the same tonight.

But if he doesn’t, it’s important to remember that Giolito is still developing. It’s important to remember that he’s just 21 years old and that he’s never pitched above Double-A. But more than anything, it’s important to remember that — regardless of his performance tonight — the future is bright for Giolito and the Nationals.

And whether it was supposed to happen this way or not, that future starts now.