For months, baseball fans have heard about Stephen Strasburg, the supposed savior of baseball in Washington and the second coming of Walter Johnson. His first major league start, which took place June 8th, was so anticipated that you couldn’t find a seat to a Nationals home game against the lowly Pittsburgh Pirates. Everyone seemed to be holding their breaths to see whether or not Strasburg could live up to the mounting hype, which had swollen to preposterous levels prior to his first start. Well, good news Nats fans: Strasburg seems to be the real deal after all.

Of course, what we all need to remember is that he’s only pitched once against one of the worst scoring teams in the league; it isn’t quite time to get him ready for Cooperstown. Still, it’s hard not to be overwhelmed by Strasburg as he mowed down the Pirates, striking out 14 and letting up just two runs in seven innings. But forget his natural talent, which is unparalleled, and look to his poise. Standing in front of the liveliest crowd in the history of the Nationals, the 21-year-old Strasburg delivered beyond anyone’s wildest expectations. Even with jacked adrenaline, he didn’t even walk a single batter, which was perhaps his most impressive feat on the day.

For the rest of the season, Strasburg is certainly going to have his fair share of ups and downs, the same as any rookie is likely to have. Still, his stuff is dynamic to the point of absurdity. His slider, or slurve as he calls it, made Pirates hitters look like children, and his fastball stayed at 99 mph all the way into the seventh inning. Strasburg embraced the mound, the loneliest place in professional sports, with a rock star mentality and seems to be determined to give fans a show every time he takes the bump.

And every time he does take the bump he will give the Nationals a chance to win, which has to be refreshing for a team that lost 100 games a season ago. Everyone knew he would sell plenty of Washington Nationals tickets but he is already helping to sellout away games as well. Simply put, no pitcher has had this much intrigue surrounding his starts in a long, long time, if ever.

But the Nationals also have to do a good job managing him from start to start. After all, he is still a 21-year-old kid just a year out of college, even if baseball analysts have already proclaimed him to be a demi-god. There will always be the temptation to pitch Strasburg deep into games because he’s easily the most recognizable player on the team already. Remembering some of the other phenoms, from Kerry Wood to Mark Prior, the Nats have to be vigilant of wearing down his arm in his first long season; at San Diego State last year, he pitched a fraction of the innings he will likely accumulate this season.

For now, though, Nats fans need to simply enjoy the moment, as should all baseball fans. Nobody has seen a player with the type of hype surrounding Strasburg, and he could very well be the antidote to the previous generation of great pitchers linked to the steroid era. There’s no way to tell whether Viagra Professional or not Strasburg can keep up this level of dominance throughout the rest of the year, but so far he’s a feel good story that every baseball fan can embrace.

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