In what was supposed to be the first meeting between two Major League Baseball rookie phenoms.

Washington Nationals starting pitcher Stephen Strasburg reached another first milestone as he was scratched from what was supposed to be his first time facing Atlanta Braves rookie sensation Jason Heyward. 

Though Strasburg faced the Braves earlier in the season, it was during the time that J-Hey was sidelined with an injured thumb.  Once again, this battle between these two surging stars will have to wait.

Despite injuries and scratched starts, Heyward and Strasburg are easily two of the biggest rookie stars in MLB and, barring season-ending injuries, seem among the most likely candidates to claim the National League Rookie of the Year. 

As the season began, Heyward was widely considered the No. 1 MLB prospect with Strasburg sitting in the No. 2 position.  With expectations and pressure high, Heyward delivered in his first major-league at bat with a three run home run off of Carlos Zambrano on opening day in front of a delighted Turner Field crowd.  In the history of the Braves organization, Heyward is the fifth to begin his career with a home run while appearing at the plate for the first time. 

Since then, Heyward has been named the Rookie of the Month in both April and May of this season.  In June, Heyward was placed on the disabled list due to a thumb injury.  Although he was selected to start the All-Star Game he did not play due to the injury. 

Thus far, Heyward boasts a .276 batting average through 349 plate appearances.  With 81 hits on the season, Heyward is currently at 11 home runs and 48 RBI’s. 

Strasburg was hyped like no other prospect in the history of Major League Baseball and was selected first overall in the 2009 draft.  Moments before the deadline to sign with the Nationals, Strasburg set a record with a contract valued at $15.1 million. 

The former San Diego State University star began his MLB career against the Pittsburgh Pirates in front of a sold out Nationals Park on June 8, 2010.  Living up to the hype, Strasburg did not disappoint with 14 strikeouts across seven innings and no walks.  Amazingly, the last seven batters in his rookie start were fanned.  The debut performance set a team record for strikeouts by a starter.

Strasburg currently boasts a 2.32 ERA with a 5-2 record across nine starts.  Thus far on the season, Strasburg has 75 strikeouts and has not had a start where he did not strikeout at least five batters. 

Strasburg was not selected for the All-Star Game as Phillies Coach Charlie Manuel indicated he needed to be “broken in” prior to becoming an All-Star.  In all fairness, the pitchers Manuel selected had played the entire first-half of the MLB season.  Strasburg later acknowledged that he felt “undeserving” of a selection given his amount of starts.

The Nationals have placed a 160-inning limit on Strasburg.  Currently, Strasburg is at 54.1 innings for the season.  Tests that have been conducted on the arm of the rookie phenom show inflammation in the right shoulder but no structural damage has been revealed.  Assuming Strasburg returns to the mound as normal it would appear that the battle between the two rookies might go until the end of the season. 

And with the Braves and Nationals meeting up in three more series before the end of the regular season, we might get to see the Heyward-Strasburg battle after all.

Used with permission of the author.

Cade Caldwell is an Atlanta-based sportswriter and contributor to Sports Climax.

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