The Washington Nationals have announced that they have promoted top prospect Stephen Strasburg from Double-A Harrisburg to Triple-A Syracuse. He’ll make his Chiefs debut Friday night against the Gwinnett Braves.
The 21 year-old made 5 starts for Harrisburg, going 3-1 with a 1.64 ERA. He had 27 strikeouts to 6 walks in 22 innings. He was lights out until his last start, where he gave up 3 earned runs in 4.2 innings.
If everything works out in Triple-A, Strasburg will most likely move to the majors in June; I’ve heard as early as June 8th.
Strasburg pitched for San Diego State University under coach Tony Gwynn. Un-drafted out of high school, Strasburg shot up the prospect rankings last year, sporting triple digit velocity and the ability to get anyone out. He was the concensus pick for the top draft choice. The Nationals took him, knowing that he was going to be a hard sign with agent Scott Boras negotiating for him. It went down to the deadline, but the Nationals signed him for a record 4 year, $15.1MM Major League deal. He didn’t pitch until the Arizona Fall League, where he pitched well until twisting his knee. He pitched well in spring training and was close to making the team. The Nationals didn’t want to rush him, nor did they want to start his service clock (he would have been a Super 2 player had he made the team out of spring training; delaying his MLB debut until June will ensure 3 years of arbitration and an extra year until free agency).