Remembering Washington Nationals Star Stephen Strasburg's Electrifying Debut

On June 8, 2010, the Washington Nationals were the talk of the baseball world despite owning a record of 29-31.

That's because the team had just made the decision to call up highly-touted pitching prospect Stephen Strasburg to make his MLB debut.

The conditions were perfect, a summer night in the team's then brand-new ballpark and a raucous crowd against a 23-36 Pittsburgh Pirates team.

According to MLB.com's preseason rankings, Strasburg was the No. 2 prospect in the sport entering that season, behind only outfielder Jason Heyward.

Just about a year prior, the Nationals made Strasburg the No. 1 overall pick in the 2009 MLB draft out of San Diego State.

Stephen Strasburg Took MLB by Storm in His Debut

Strasburg was always seen as close to MLB-ready, and the team followed through on its aggressive timeline to get him to the Big Leagues.

The righty from California took the mound with all the eyes on the sport watching, and he delivered an electrifying performance, setting a franchise record with 14 strikeouts while leading his team to a 5-2 win.

In his first ever start, Strasburg joined Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson, Brad Penny, Javier Vasquez and Mike Mussina as the only pitcher to strike out 14 batters without issuing a walk in seven or fewer innings since 1900.

Strasburg suffered an injury that would ultimately require Tommy John surgery just a few months later, kicking off an unfortunate run of bad injury luck for one of the most talented arms the game had seen.

The righty stayed healthy long enough from 2012 to 2019 to rack up several excellent seasons, notably becoming a postseason legend with his heroic efforts on the way to helping the Nationals win the 2019 World Series.

Strasburgh posted a 1.98 ERA over six appearances and five starts while earning World Series MVP for his efforts.

In an ideal world, Strasburg would be the elder statesman of this current young, exciting Washington team that features a legitimate candidate for the National League Cy Young in ace MacKenzie Gore.

The rest of Strasburg's career may not have gone as anyone would have hoped, but he'll forever be a World Series hero and franchise legend thanks to a journey that all started 15 years ago.

In the years since, only one pitcher's MLB debut has even come particularly close to matching the hype and energy behind Strasburg's first start, and that's Pittsburgh's Paul Skenes.

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