Our $245M man didn’t make it out of the second inning and now the Washington Nationals are stuck in limbo with not whether Stephen Strasburg is headed to the Injured List, but with how long he’ll be there. Fastballs being thrown by Stras were showing up on the Truist Park video board as change ups.
A four pitch walk to start the game. A visit from the training staff after one hitter and diminished velocity on the fastball, led to an early shower for Strasburg.
Too bad. Stras was facing a team in which he has had statistical success against in the past. In fact incredible statistical success.
Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg has all-time strikeout percentages when he faces the Braves.
Strasburg is a strikeout pitcher as evidenced by his career mark of 10.6 K/9. He’s most dominant when facing the division rival Atlanta Braves. Strasburg has struck out more Braves hitters than any other team he has faced in his big league career (he has only faced more Miami Marlins hitters than Braves hitters in his twelve years).
In fact, Strasburg has struck out a higher percentage of Braves hitters than any other pitcher against any other team, in the history of the game. Since 1901, at least.
This is wild - Stephen Strasburg has struck out 29.4% of the Braves hitters he’s faced in his career. That’s the highest percentage by any pitcher against any single opponent in the modern era (since 1901, minimum 30 starts). Of 805 Braves hitters faced, he’s struck out 237 of em
— Dan Kolko (@masnKolko) June 1, 2021
There have been a lot of great pitchers to throw in the league in its history. There have been a lot of dominant pitchers who have faced sub-par competition. Not a one of them has struck out more than 29.4% of hitters from any given team. Remarkable.
His overall record of 14-12 with a 3.94 earned run average doesn’t necessarily shout dominance over the Braves. His strikeout percentage begs to differ.
Strasburg was unable to add to these numbers in his most recent pitching performance. He tallied four outs, one via the strikeout, before leaving the game in what will became another no-decision. His health is of the utmost priority, regardless of how great the statistics look.