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

Rookie sensation Stephen Strasburg seemed to pick up yesterday right where he left off after his 14-strike out debut on June 8 against the Pittsburgh Pirates, striking out the first two hitters he faced to start the first inning.

With this being Strasburg’s second start after striking out 14 with no walks in his first appearance, it was just a matter of time before he did give one up. That came in the fourth inning to another rookie in only his third major league game, Carlos Santana.

After a solid performance, Strasburg was pulled in the sixth after loading the bases but not before tallying eight K’s, walking five and giving up one home run which was one of just two hits. The Nats won 9-4, breaking a two-game losing streak.

The win improves Strasburg’s record to 2-0 and his ERA to 2.19. Like in game one, Strasburg had almost complete control. You could hear the sound of the ball popping Ivan Rodriguez’s mitt and knew it had to be traveling close to or at 100 mph.

Rodriguez seemed to notice Strasburg was having some problems with the mound early in the game, though Strasburg denied it at first. But in the fifth inning, he admitted he was sliding a bit and the ground’s crew came out to fix the mound before Strasburg started the sixth inning, but by then Strasburg, while still throwing in the 100 mph range, showed he was human. Manager Jim Riggleman, who had originally said he was going to hold Strasburg to a 100 pitch count, took him out after throwing 95 pitches, 52 of those strikes and with the bases loaded and the Nats leading 6-1.

Strasburg’s 18 strikeouts before issuing a walk is second in the majors. Johnny Cueto, of the Cincinnati Reds holds the record of striking out 22 batters before issuing a walk. He achieve that feat in 2008. That same year, Strasburg was a sophomore at San Diego State University. He went 8-3 with a 1.57 earned run average and 133 strikeouts in 971/2 innings for the Aztecs. That same year he struck out a Mountain West conference record 23 batters in a game on April 11 against the University of Utah. He has one career no-hitter, recorded in his final home start on May 8, 2009, against Air Force, where he also struck out 17 batters.

After two solid outtings, the consensus is if Strasburg can keep healthy, he could become the best pitcher Major League Baseball has ever seen.

Re-printed with permission of the author.

In addition to contributing to Sports Climax, Miriam Romain maintains a Chicago Cubs column for Examiner.com. The Chicago native has also been published in several Cubs annuals by Maple Street Press and is writing a book with the working title “Summers at Wrigley with my Dad.”

Copyright © 2010 Sports Climax, LLC

Even before he took the mound for his National League debut tonight in Washington, Stephen Strasburg had become a household name. The flame-throwing pitcher’s debut came just one year after signing a record $15.1 million contract with the Nationals.

Hoping to help lift a slumping Nats team, Strasburg was put on the fast track to the majors. Facing the Pittsburgh Pirates, the 21-year-old phenom lived up to the hype, striking out 14 of the 21 batters he faced and giving up two runs, both coming on a two-run dinger by Delwyn Young.

The most impressive stat may be the fact he walked not a single batter, even after falling behind 3-0 and 3-1 on a few occasions.

With a wicked curve ball coupled with his smoking fastball that reached 100 mph and was consistently in the high 90 mph range, Strasburg’s debut came in front of more than 40,000 fans at a standing room only Nationals Park.

After being greeted with a standing ovation, first inning jitters were apparent as Strasburg had trouble finding the strike zone, but once he found it, he was almost unstoppable.

Before taking the mound tonight, Strasburg was a sensation. During his short time at Triple-A Syracuse, he had a 1.08 ERA. He struck out 38 batters in 33.1 innings and walked only seven. Earlier this week, a baseball card of Strasburg sold on eBay for around $17,000 and tickets to tonight’s game were sold out within two hours of the announcement that Strasburg was being called up and starting.

Often compared to Kerry Wood, among other pitchers who have had incredible rookie years, Strasburg does appear to be somewhat different. Looking at all the angles, his mechanics, for one, are better than Wood’s. He was able to mix up his pitches, so hitters really didn’t know what his first pitch to them would be. But it was that awesome curve ball that was a joy for fans to watch, but a frustration to Pirates batters.

With this 5-2 win under his belt, Strasburg has a decision to make. The mayor of the town of Strasburg, VA, has said that if Strasburg won his first game, he would be awarded the Pride of Strasburg Award. If Strasburg accepts it in person, the town will be renamed Stephen Strasburg, VA, for one week.

Keep watching this kid. He looks like the real deal, and if he stays healthy, his career could provide historic numbers and end at Cooperstown in baseball’s Hall of Fame.

Copyright © 2010 Sports Climax, LLC

PHILADELPHIA, PA. – Some people just aren’t showing a lot of common sense when it comes to behavior at a pro sporting event and Matthew Clemmens of Cherry Hill, New Jersey may be one of them.

Police are still sorting out the details surrounding Clemmens being cuffed and removed from Citizens Bank Park during a game after he was accused of intentionally barfing on a man and his daughter.

Off duty police officer Michael Vangelo and his two daughters settled into their seats for a game against the Washington Nationals and according to Vangelo, a group of obnoxious dudes began throwing a bunch of F-bombs and other vulgarities around.

After Vangelo’s daughter asked the men to stop, the problem evolved. “I had beer thrown on me and water and then one individual started spitting at the back of my daughter’s chair and he actually spit on my 11-year-old daughter,” Vangelo said.

According to police, after Vangelo had stadium ushers remove the group, Clemmens decided to get involved, got behind Vangelo’s daughter, shoved his finger down his throat and projectile-puked on the innocent girl.

“He leaned forward, he projectile vomited all over me and my daughter,” Vangelo said. “It was the most vile and disgusting thing I’ve ever seen and I’ve been a cop for 20 years.”

After the assault, surrounding fans gang-piled on Clemmens to help subdue him then he was arrested.

By the looks of Clemmens’ photo that was released by Philly Police, the group did a decent job of detaining the obnoxious fan.

More Police News: Roethlisberger ‘Came back with his penis out of his pants’ (Actual Police Report here)

Lighter Stuff: Hottest Female Athletes – Click Here for Full Gallery

Copyright ©2010 Sports Climax™

WASHINGTON, D.C. – When the Washington Nationals open their season at Nationals Park on April 5th, President Barrack Obama will have the honor of tossing the opening pitch.

This will be Obama’s first visit to Nationals Park and his ceremonial pitch will mark the 100th Anniversary of the inaugural Opening Day pitch thrown by a president. The first to do it was President Howard Taft on April 14, 1910.

A baseball fan at heart, the President is no stranger to the mound. He threw out the first pitch at the 2009 MLB All-Star Game at Busch Stadium on July 14, 2009 in St Louis.

The Nationals opener against the 2009 National League Champion Philadelphia Phillies and will be broadcast on WDCW DC – 50. Start time for the afternoon game is 1:05pm.

Copyright ©2010 Sports Climax™