Five Reasons Stephen Strasburg is Getting Called Up to the Bigs

Who is Stephen Strasburg? Well in case you haven't heard he is the most highly anticipated draftee of the last decade. The 21 year old pitcher was drafted number 1 overall in 2009 out of San Diego State and was given a record pay day.

Now, if you aren't a believer yet, you will be soon. In Spring training this year (against major leaguersby the way) he struck out 12 batters in 9 innings and finished with a win, no losses, a 2.00 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP. Far and wide he was the best pitcher for the Washington Nationals this Spring and if you think they are going to leave him in the minors for the year, you may want to read this first.

1. Rotation

You have three seconds to name one starting pitcher for the Washington Nationals. Times up. Unless you are a Nats freak (I'm sure there is one or two out there) you may have named one- and no one is blaming you. They literallyhave no one in that rotation worth remembering.

Not only are none of their starting pitchers worth remembering but the Nationals are also running on a four man pitching rotation right now featuring John Lannan (8.31 ERA), Jason Marquis (13.50 ERA), Craig Stammen (7.20 ERA) and Livan Hernandez (0.00 ERA). Now if you are thinking wow, Hernandez is doing pretty good so far this year- think again. 2007 was the last time his ERA was below 5.00 for a season but even then it was too close to really note (4.93 which is damn near 5.00) so don't get excited about one decent start.

So to sum it all up the rotation is not good at all. Actually, hopeless is a better word to use here. In addition, running a four man rotation also guarantees one more thing; INJURY! The work load and rest time will take its toll on those four bums from the last paragraph and low and behold the Nats will look to someone for help.

2. Ivan Rodriguez

Ha! Yeah Pudge is still around and actually had a good opening week to follow a strong spring. He's definitely the greatest defensive catcher of all time and he was signed for a few years to a generous salary. Why? Hmm.

I wonder if Stephen Strasburg, the most highly anticipated pitching prospect since Mark Prior could learn anything from the greatest defensive catcher of all time? Hmm.

Pudge was signed for reasons other than filling a slot. When Strasburg gets called up guess who will call his games.

3. Attendance

What do you want to bet that the attendance will double when finally has his major league debut? The Washington Nationals are going to need a reason other than Ryan Zimmerman to bring the boys to the yard. Strasburg? His fastball and that sick curve/slider hybrid will bring all the boys and the girls to the yard.

4. Competition

Strasburg smokes more than 11.00 batters per 9 innings, something that very, very few big league starting pitchers are capable of. He does it withease too. So with that being said, his skills are too much for double A ball. Also, great pitchers thrive on competition. He's less likely to give it his all in double A or triple A when he's a giant among ants.

5. Money

Here is the big reason Strasburg will be in the bigs within a few months. Money.

There is something called a 'Super 2' scenariowhere if you bring a prospect up in the first two months of the season... well, long story short he'll get paid a lot better later on. Now, if you are the Nationals you know that you are not competitive in anyway, with or without Stephen Strasburg. So why would you pay Strasburg between $14-18 million dollars for two months? Yes, that's what it could cost the Nationals by bringing the kid up early in the season.

Remember last season when everyone was so excited about Matt Weiters and the Baltimore Orioles made us wait 2 months to bring him up? Ya get where I'm going with this? How about the Braves and Tommy Hanson? Remember last season waiting for him to come up? Yeah. How about Neftali Feliz with the Rangers? Yeah.

The only reason Jason Heyward (outfielder, Atlanta Braves) is in the big leagues right now is Atlanta believes that they can legitimately compete for the playoffs and Heyward can help them get there. The Nats don't have a prayer.

However, there is another side to this. Why pay the kid millions and millions to blaze fastballs in double A? Doesn't make sense unless you are trying to save millions and millions in the long run right? Right. (For further reference on 'Super Two' rules click here.)

The question now becomes when. If I am right (and I am right) then when will he be in the bigs? June 4th-6th at home against the Reds, a perfect team for the young flame thrower to begin his storied debut.