In the Major League satire feature films we never got confirmation from characters Pedro Cerrano or Eddie Harris as to whether or not Jesus could hit a curve ball. It is, however, confirmed in the real Major League Baseball world that the Washington Nationals “Savior” is unable to save himself from Tommy John surgery.

Stephen Strasburg showed the world what unique talent he possessed the first time he stepped on the mound in Nationals Park on June 8 against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The most hyped rookie in the history of MLB proved his believers right and dazzled a national television audience, dominating the Pirates while striking out 14 hitters in seven innings.

While the youngster conquered and it was a classic case of a star being born overnight, what concerned a lot of MLB fans was the upside-down arm action that Strasburg threw with.

Fast-forward to August from that debut night against Pittsburgh and things have certainly changed. It appears that instead of pulling the Nats out of the basement in 2011, Strasburg will instead be rehabbing and working toward returning from Tommy John surgery.

White Sox pitching coach Don Cooper pointed Strasburg’s problematic delivery out after his first stint on the DL, comparing him to Kerry Wood and Mark Prior, two promising pitchers who never lived up to their hype due to a laundry list of injuries.

Despite the Nationals best efforts to protect Strasburg’s golden arm (they were going to cut him off at 160 innings and kept his pitch counts limited in the starts he made) he is now facing 12 to 18 months of rehab. That means we may not see Strasburg until Spring Training 2012.

Regardless of what the Nats did, pitching is a violent and unnatural motion, and players with certain deliveries will be more apt to get hurt no matter what measures are taken.

Strasburg’s injury is a huge blow to the Nationals. The organization has spent its time in D.C. as an irrelevant bottom-feeder in the National League East. Although they are heading toward another last place finish in 2010, Strasburg represented a future and hope; making the team and fans believe they would soon be competitive.

While it’s possible that the best case scenario suggests Strasburg could be ready to go in September 2011, the team would be incredibly dumb to rush him back since they will likely once again be far away from the pennant race.

Strasburg himself is determined to come back from the injury as quick as possible. He said, “right now I want to be the best at rehabbing and getting back out [there].”

Hopefully when he does, he brings the same heat and a bender that would even make Jesus’ knees buckle.  

Used with permission of the author.

 Along with contributing to Sports Climax, Brett Kettyle is the Atlanta Braves Community Leader on Bleacher Report and maintains a Braves column for MTR Media. Follow Brett on Twitter.

Copyright ©2010 Sports Climax, LLC

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.

Copyright ©2010 Sports Climax, LLC

Here’s an Atlanta Braves update and Nats series preview. The Braves are just 3-3 over their past six games now, even though they could easily be 6-0.

Billy Wagner has blown two saves in the past two series and Sunday we were given another example of why Jesse Chavez doesn’t belong in the major leagues.

On the bright side, the Braves did have a big comeback win Saturday and Jason Heyward has been terrific since coming off the DL.

I know it’s been a day since the last loss, but I’m still in a bad mood about it, so instead of discussing things further I will just move onto the upcoming series against the Nationals.

Pitching Matchups: Atlanta Braves @ Washington Nationals

7/27: Tommy Hanson (8-6, 4.12) @ Stephen Strasburg (5-2, 2.32)

7/28: Tim Hudson (10-5, 2.47) @ Livan Hernandez (7-6, 3.12)

7/29: Derek Lowe (10-8, 4.48) @ Craig Stammen (2-4, 5.50)

Series Outlook

It’s safe to say that everyone is looking forward to the first game of this series, as baseball’s top prospect, Jason Heyward (that’s right everyone, he was BA’s top prospect) will take on its’ second ranked prospect (Stephen Strasburg).

Heyward has raked since coming off the DL, hitting .436 with an OPS over 1.000. Strasburg has already lost to Atlanta once this year, but it will be interesting to see how this game plays out, as it is the first time in his pro career that he is facing the same team for a second time.

I think the first game will come down to Tommy Hanson, who has been inconsistent so far in 2010. However, Hanson has been great in the month of July (2.66 ERA) and has pitched well against the Nationals in the past.

Just like last time, I think the Braves will beat the Nationals even with Strasburg on the hill.

To me, the second matchup is almost as interesting as the first. While Strasburg and Hanson both have electric stuff, Hudson and Hernandez are their polar opposites. Neither of them rely on overpowering strikeout pitches, but both have been terrific in 2010.

Overall, I think Hudson is the better pitcher, and he will do his thing, getting the Nats to pound the ball into the ground en route to a Braves win.

The Braves would look to have a favorable matchup in game three, but I just can’t find it in me to pick this team to sweep a series on the road right now. Derek Lowe has been consistently mediocre lately, and I don’t think the Braves will be able to give him another cheap win. 

Used with permission of the author.

 Along with contributing to Sports Climax, Brett Kettyle is the Atlanta Braves Community Leader on Bleacher Report and maintains a Braves column for MTR Media. Follow Brett on Twitter.

Copyright ©2010 Sports Climax, LLC