The arrival of Stephen Strasburg

Stephen Strasburg in his MLB debut

After opening the 2010 season with the Class AA Harrisburg Senators, pitcher Stephen Strasburg makes his greatly anticipated debut in the major leagues 14 years ago today.

Strasburg strikes out 14 of the 24 batters he faces and walks none in seven innings of Washington’s 5-2 victory over the Pirates before a capacity crowd of 40,315 on a Tuesday night at Nationals Park.

More than 200 credentials are distributed to the media converging on Washington to chronicle Strasburg’s every move and each of the 94 pitches from the 21-year-old wunderkind from San Diego State University.

“I thought I was going to be a lot more nervous than I was,” Strasburg tells the aforementioned throng of media after his debut.

“It’s kind of like when you get married. You go into it wanting to really remember everything and, once it is done, you can’t remember a single thing.”

Alas, shoulder injuries eventually derail Strasburg’s career with his last pitch in the major leagues coming exactly 12 years and one day after his first.

Strasburg posts a record of 112-58 from his debut 14 years ago tonight through the end of the 2019 season.

Injuries then limit him to 32 innings over eight starts in his final three seasons, a span over which Strasburg goes a forgettable 1-4.

In all, Strasburg faces 5,962 batters in the majors.

The first being Pittsburgh’s Andrew McCutcheon, who starts Strasburg’s debut 14 years ago today by softly lining a 2-0 pitch into the glove of Washington shortstop Ian Desmond.

The last of those 5,962 batters is Miami’s Jesus Sanchez, who pulls a 2-2 pitch from Strasburg to deep right field for a two-run homer in the fifth inning and gives the Marlins a 7-2 lead in a game they eventually win 7-4 on June 9, 2022.