Stephen Strasburg and the Mound

I was reading an article about Stephen Strasburg's second start and how the Cleveland fans were not to happy about their grounds crew having to come out and fix the mound two times at his request. Let me tell you why they were wrong.

The only people who benefit from a bad mound when Strasburg is pitching is the owners of funeral homes. If Strasburg were to let a few 97 and 98 mpg fastballs loose at a player's ear hole than that player is in extreme danger. Strasburg has an unbelievable talent. A talent that only a handful of pitchers have been blessed in the entire history of baseball. He has to handle that talent with responsibility. When you throw as hard as he does it would be irresponsible for many reasons for him to pitch off a mound that he is not comfortable with.

1. His own team. If he is earholing the other teams players, intentional or not, National's players are definitely going to get a few balls thrown at them too.

2. The other team. Do I really need to explain? Nobody wants a 97 or 98 mpg fastball hitting them anywhere.

3. Him. He has the chance to be the best ever. He really does. Also, he has the chance to make millions. Why mess that up over a bad mound?

Finally, I will say that a bad mound could actually work to his favor. If I was player fixing to face him and I noticed that he was struggling with the mound I can guarantee that I would be stepping out before I even got into the batters box.