Rival report: Royals to face Strasburg

Washington rookie phenom Stephen Strasburg will make his third interleague start against an AL Central team this afternoon. This time, the Kansas City Royals.

The game will start at 4:35 EST.

Strasburg is 2-0 with a 1.86 ERA in three starts, striking out at least eight batters each time out.

As a team, the Royals have lost five games in a row and have the second fewest strikeouts (386). The Chicago White Sox, however, have the fewest strike outs among MLB teams (352), but Strasburg struck out 10 of the team's batters across seven innings in his last start.

He also faced the Cleveland Indians.

"I know he's got great stuff," Royals first baseman Billy Butler said. "Everybody knows that. I've seen him on TV. Actually, we've been watching him quite a bit. It's a good challenge for our offense."

The Royals send Brian Bannister to the hill this afternoon.

Rival report: White Sox to face Strasburg

The Chicago White Sox will get a taste of rookie phenom Stephen Strasburg tonight in Washington D.C.

Strasburg is 2-0 in two starts with 22 strikeouts, including eight against the Cleveland Indians on Sunday and 14 against Pittsburgh in his debut.

White Sox players have struck out just 317 times, the fewest among baseball's 30 teams.

"It looks like once he gets ahead of you, it's a defensive battle," Mark Kotsay said. "He does have a dominant strikeout pitch, and his curve and changeup are above average. I think attacking him early may give you the best chance."

His fastball tops out at 100 miles per hour more than once per game, his changeup runs around 90 miles per hour and his curveball is arguably already one of the better ones in baseball.

He will battle Gavin Floyd (2-7) tonight.

Straburg's next start is also expected to be against an AL Central team, this team the Royals next Wednesday.

Photo by Andrew Harner

A day in the Strasbosphere

Pitching phenom Stephen Strasburg dominated the Cleveland Indians in 5.1 innings of work during a 9-4 Washington Nationals win this afternoon.

Strasburg struck out eight and only allowed two hits, including a Travis Hafner home run. He did walk five batters, however.

He consistently hit 98-100 MPH on the radar gun but did slow the game down twice by calling the grounds crew out to work on the mound. He was booed by some fans when he was pulled from the game.

He is now 2-0 with 22 strikeouts after his first week in the Majors.

Three of Cleveland's first six outs were strikeouts, and Strasburg got Austin Kearns and Russell Branyan to strike out swinging to get out of a jam in the bottom of the fourth after he walked two.

He lost his poise in the bottom of the sixth, though. After being spotted a five-run lead by his teammates in the top of the inning and getting Shin-Soo Choo to fly out to center, Carlos Santana singled and Strasburg walked the bases loaded before being pulled. He showed frustration on the mound once he knew he was going to get pulled, a first for his young career.

Strasburg did help the Indians draw a crowd of 32,876, easily their largest since Opening Day. Hall of Famer Bob Feller watched the game from the press box, and Cleveland Brown kick returner Joshua Cribbs was also on hand.

A chunk of the crowd hit the exits after Strasburg was lifted.

Photos by Andrew Harner

Strasburg comes to Cleveland

By now, I'm sure you know that the most hyped pitching prospect in recent memory, Stephen Strasburg, will be pitching in Cleveland tomorrow.

I am well aware and will be at the game, so I hope to get some pictures (and possibly video) of Strasburg as well as several Cleveland players posted tomorrow night.

I won't be on the Social Media Deck, so I will not have updates during the game.

The Dazzling Debut and Cleveland

Stephen Strasburg arrived bigger than anyone expected last night, striking out 14 batters across seven innings of work. More impressive to me though, he struck out the final seven Pittsburgh Pirates he faced and he only used 94 pitches to finish those seven innings in one of the most impressive Major League debuts ever for a pitcher. I won't put too much stock into him yet though because he was facing one of the lowliest teams in the league (the Pirates are 23-35 this season.

His next stop?

That would be Progressive Field on Sunday.

While his appearance is certain to spike attendance and bring in some cash for the Indians, it is also likely to bring some national attention to Cleveland's inferiority. A friend of mine referred to the game as "Strasburg vs. a AAAA team" in a Facebook status, and that is a fair assessment. Without their biggest stars (Grady Sizemore and Asdrubal Cabrera), Strasburg still won't really see any superstar competition other than Shin-Soo Choo (Cleveland is an even worse 21-36 and is led in batting by journeyman Austin Kearns at .306).

And we probably won't know Strasburg's full potential for awhile, as his next starts likely will come against the White Sox (24-33) and Orioles (16-42). But that still shouldn't stop you from heading out to Progressive Field on Sunday, just in case this guy does turn out to be the real deal.

Getty Image via Post-Gazette