Next Year’s #1?

With the first day of the major league draft behind us, for some people, the countdown can officially begin – 364 days until someone announces that they’ve selected Stephen Strasburg from San Diego State University, potentially with the #1 overall pick. The legend of Strasburg hit new heights on April 11th in a Mountain West Conference game against the University of Utah, when Strasburg recorded 27 outs in a one hit complete game shutout – 23 of them by strikeout. After the game, Strasburg said this:

“I was trying to get the ball in play and throw strikes. I was trying to use the defense as much as possible, but I guess it didn’t work out that way.”

While trying to get the ball in play, he punched out 23 men. That’s how you build a legend. He had already been talked about as a potential top five pick for 2009 back in February, but after a dominating sophomore season for SDSU, he heads into the final twelve month push as the clear frontrunner. Usually, that guy doesn’t end up going #1 overall (Pedro Alvarez was this guy last summer), but unless Strasburg blows out his arm, he’s going to go very high.

His fastball sits in the mid-90s and he has a wipeout slider that is responsible for most of the strikeouts. He also has a classic pitchers frame, and obviously, his performance validates the stuff. There are some other highly talented players who will make a run at being the top overall pick next year, but right now, Strasburg is the Big Brown of this race.