Even Baseball Jesus Has His Bad Days

 

(AP Photo via Daylife. Stephen Strasburg stretches before his debut in Altoona, PA on April 11.)

"There's always going to be days when things just aren't going your way."
(Stephen Strasburg, via Nationals.com, 5/2/2010)

"He's here to develop. You have to experience a tight strike zone. You have to experience hitters getting cheap hits. That's going to happen [in the big leagues]. I was fine with the way he pitched. It was good for him."
(Bob Boone, Nats' assistant GM, via Washington Post, 5/3/2010)

Baseball Jesus has a bad day in final (?) AA tuneup. 

Nicked, blooped, and squeezed against the Altoona Curve.

The Post's Dave Sheinin describes Strasburg's reaction to being squeezed:

...He froze at the end of his delivery when home-plate umpire Jon Byrne didn't give him a close call. He turned away in disgust. And at the end of the third inning, Strasburg stared down Byrne as he exited the field, prompting Byrne to make a gesture that seemed to say, "What's your problem, kid?" (via Washington Post, 5/3/2010)

Better get used to it: It'll only get worse in the majors (the squeezing, that is).

Next stop, Syracuse. The question is: when? Taking a quick look at the Chiefs' schedule for May, we're  guessing he makes six starts in AAA:

Friday May 7 vs. GWN
Wednesday, May 12 vs. NOR
Monday, May 17 @ PAW
Saturday May 22 vs. TOL
Thursday May 27 @ SWB
Tuesday June 1  @ BUF

...And then a June 8 debut in Washington against the Pirates, never to ride a bus again.

And then The Nats will be able to start cashing in on The Strasburg Effect, too:

"His lasting impact will be all the novelty items that we’re able to put his name and face on. That will be down the road. His staying power could be lengthy, even years. I think the sky is the limit."
(Mike Voutsinas, Syracuse Chiefs Assistant GM, via Syracuse Post-Standard, 5/2/2010)

"We sell baseballs, photos, pretty much anything with him on it."
(Ann-Marie Naumes, Harrisburg Senators director of merchandise, 5/2/2010)

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Comments

[johnats]

Bet they will make Strasburg start one more time at AA before moving him on to the next level.

Did you choose that picture on purpose?

[The Nationals Enquirer]

We'll see -- AA or AAA, we're going all in on that June 8 date. And only partially because Nationals Enquirer staff will be at a wedding in Vegas on the previous weekend.