Please consider this for the sake of argument, comparison and, well, fun: Could the Washington Nationals’ Stephen Strasburg be the next Todd Van Poppel?
Consider the similarities: Blazing fastball, first-round pick and both are about 6’4 and 215 pounds. Both players debuted at home. The main difference is Strasburg got the win, Van Poppel got a no decision.
But think of the hype involved with the two players. Recall back in 1990 when Van Poppel was taken 14th. He was touted as the next Nolan Ryan. He had a fastball just shy of 100mph. He was apart of the “Four Aces”.
Strasburg was dubbed the savior of the Nationals franchise. Together with Bryce Harper, they were supposed to provide a one-two punch that lifted the Nationals into contention in the NL.
Well, Strasburg is entering his third season. So far, he was 10 starts, six wins and an ERA of 2.54. Not bad.
The main difference might be the patience shown by the Nationals front office. Washington has made is clear they don’t want to leave Strasburg out there more than about 150 innings this season. The team also bolstered it’s rotation. The Nats added Gio Gonzalez and Edwin Jackson to go along with Jordan Zimmerman, John Lannan and Chien-Ming Wang.
Then again, Van Poppel did have Steve Ontiveros, Ron Darling, Ed Nunez, Dave Leiper and, some guy named, Dennis Eckersley during his third year in the Bigs. And he only won seven games that year.
Leave a Reply