The ability to strike a batter out is the most powerful skill a pitcher who wants to dominate the major leagues can possess. Throughout the storied history of professional baseball, many pitchers have succeeded, but only a handful have been the supreme talents of their respective eras. Walter Johnson, Tom Seaver, Nolan Ryan, and Roger Clemens make up part of the exclusive list, and for the most part, these rare players only come around every decade or so. So it is surprising to learn that this year, two pitchers have come along with the skill set to potentially join that list. Each throws as hard as any human being has ever thrown a baseball, but one has received much hype in doing so, while the other has flown under the radar.
On Aug. 17, 2009, the Washington Nationals made Stephen Strasburg the highest paid draft pick in Major League Baseball history. Strasburg started to attract the attention of baseball scouts during his sophomore year of college at San Diego State University, and when he took the hill after spending just two months in the minor leagues, the media had already been hyping his premiere performance for weeks. Every national sports news outlet swarmed Nationals Park for his debut against the Pirates, an unprecedented occurence since Nationals-Pirates games usually struggle to draw more attendance than a local little league game at Volta Park.
Strasburg lived up to the hype that night, striking out an astonishing 14 batters, the second most in a debut. Strasburg continued to dominate afterward, posting a 2.91 ERA while striking out 92 hitters in only 68 innings pitched, an average of just under eight per start.
Then, on Aug. 21, almost a year to the day since he signed with the Nationals, Strasburg felt something wrong in his arm after a pitch. Six days later, the terrible news was announced: Strasburg would need Tommy John surgery. News that you need this surgery, from which it takes 12 to 18 months to recover, is the worst thing a pitcher can hear from a doctor.
But sometimes when one door closes, another one opens.
Not even five months after Strasburg signed his contract with the Nationals, Cuban pitcher Aroldis Chapman agreed to a deal with the Cincinnati Reds. Chapman had defected from Cuba the previous July by walking out of a hotel in the Netherlands where the Cuban National Team had been staying for a world tournament. The news of his impending free agency created a stir within the MLB, but it only caught the attention of the most die-hard baseball fans.
Chapman, like Strasburg, started his career in the minor leagues, but quickly rose through the ranks because of his high strikeout rate and pitching velocity. The 22-year-old Chapman is still very raw and needs to harness his control to excel at the next level, but he has the talent and potential to join the elite list of pitchers who became legendary for striking out hitters. Like Strasburg, the key to Chapman’s game is his blazing fastball, which sets up the rest of his pitches and intimidates hitters.
Last Friday, in a minor league game, one of Chapman’s pitches was clocked at a shocking 105 mph, leaving even the most jaded scouts speechless. On Tuesday, Chapman made his major league debut for the Reds, who will use him as a reliever for the remaining month of the season. While Strasburg’s first start seemed like it aired on every TV in the nation, Chapman’s drew negligible attention, especially when compared to the Washington Phenom. Maybe it is the smaller market, or the fact that Chapman is only a reliever for now, but it is hard to believe that a pitcher who was recently clocked at 105 mph did not receive any substantial national coverage. Maybe that is better for the Reds, and for Chapman. It is possible that Strasburg’s injury was at least partially caused by all of the hype, which could have made him overexert himself. Maybe the baseball gods are telling us something—there can’t be two pitchers with so much talent around at once. Only time will tell us if these pitchers will be the best of an era or just amazing talents that never reached their full potential.
