Strasburg Named Player Of The Week After Two Dominating Wins

The Associated Press reports that Washington Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg has been named the National League’s Player of the Week after winning his first two starts in commanding fashion.

The Washington Nationals’ hard-throwing righty was given the honor Monday. He is 2-0 with 22 strikeouts and a 2.19 ERA in two major league starts.

The 22 strikeouts were the most in the majors last week. Only Karl Spooner of the 1954 Brooklyn Dodgers has fanned more batters in his first two major league starts.

To revel in the good news, head over to SB Nation’s Federal Baseball.

Cleveland, OH (Sports Network) - Roger Bernadina celebrated his 26th birthday by going 2-for-2 with a two-run homer and a pair of runs scored as Washington shut down Cleveland, 9-4, in the finale of this three-game interleague set.

Ian Desmond contributed three hits and knocked in two and Ivan Rodriguez added two hits and drove in a pair for the Nationals, who salvaged a game in the series.

In his second big-league start, Stephen Strasburg (2-0) lasted 5 1/3 innings, allowing two hits and a run while fanning eight but walking five.

Shin-Soo Choo hit a late two-run single while Travis Hafner homered and Luis Valbuena added an RBI for theIndians, who had won four straight.

David Huff (2-8) was tagged in the loss for six hits and as many runs over 5 2/3 frames.

It would have been unreasonable to expect Strasburg to replicate or outdo his 14 strikeout performance on Tuesday, but he managed to remain impressive. Eight strikeouts, two hits and only one earned run over 5 1/3 innings is nothing to sneeze at in your second Major League debut. In his first two starts, Strasburg has 22 strikeouts in 12 1/3 innings, with an ERA of 2.19 through his first two career starts.

Yes, today showed that he can have some issues with control from time to time. The way he let the condition of the mound get into his head was a little disappointing, but certainly understandable. With time, his control and his ability to block out external circumstances will improve.

All in all, I'd give Strasburg a B+ for his outing today, which might be a little harsh, but performances like these will probably be closer to Strasburg's norm for the rest of the season. I don't think anyone would be too upset with that.

• After five innings of solid pitching, David Huff finally breaks down in the sixth inning as the top of the lineup returns for their third go-around. Josh Willingham, Ivan Rodriguez and Ian Desmond come up wit big hits as the Nationals extend the lead to 6-1. Barring a collapse from the bullpen, Strasburg has plenty of run support for the rest of the game.
• Finally, Shin-Soo Choo makes contact, but only hits a soft liner for an out.
• Carlos Santana records the first non-home run hit of the day for the Indians and now the pitching coach wants to have a little chat. Strasburg seems to be slowing down a little bit and I think the Nats are hoping to get him through this inning before they take him out.
• The talk didn't do much help. Travis Hafner walks and on the fourth ball, Strasburg's plant foot slid slightly as he released.
• The ground crew is back out to work on the mound again. You have to wonder if the mound conditions are starting to get in Strasburg's head.
• Strasburg walks Austin Kearns and that will be it for Strasburg on the day.
• Drew Storen does a marvelous job getting out of a bases loaded jam, forcing Russell Branyan into a pop fly and striking out Jhonny Peralta to get out of the inning. A nice outing for both of the future arms of the Washington Nationals.

• Carpenter: "Strasburg has created more job opportunites for statisticians." In a roundabout way, I think this live-blog is proof of that.
• The grounds crew and does some repair on the mound around the pitcher's landing. If I was Stephen Strasburg, I would demand repairs after every pitch. Coincidentally, I would be the biggest diva ever.
• With every minute the ground crew takes to repair the mound, Strasburg gets an extra minute to rest. I'm sure the Indians are thrilled about this.
• Rob Dibble takes the mound delay as an opportunity to, predictably, lament about throwback uniforms.
• Peralta goes down swinging. Strasburg picks up strikeout No. 8.
• Former National Anderson Hernandez gets a walk, but Strasburg gets a pop out and a ground out to end the inning.

• Adam Dunn is owning David Huff today. After getting a double in his first at-bat, Dunn hits a blistering shot into the seats to give the Nationals a 2-1 lead. Sometimes, you can almost take Dunn's Thor-like power for granted, but he has a way of sending out reminders just when you're about ready to forget about his slugging ability.
• Mark Zuckerman drops a factual nugget regarding Strasburg and strikeouts. As you probably remember, he struck out his final seven batters on Tuesday and his first two today. That makes for nine straight strikeouts, which puts him in exclusive company "Only 5 pitchers have recorded 9 straight Ks in the last 10 years: Benoit, Nolasco, Peavy, Gagne and #Strasburg."
• Strasburg gets Shin-Soo Choo on a wicked curve ball for his first out of the inning. Choo has a 10 game hitting streak coming into today, that might not last for long.
• My brother (an extremely casual fan) on Strasburg against the Indians: "He is ruining their lives right now."
• Strasburg finally shows a brief glimpse of humanity, walking Carlos Santana. Oh well.
• Strasburg gets a little too cutesy against Hafner, who homered off Strasburg in the second, and proceeds to walk him.
• After avoiding the zone on the first two pitches of the at bat against Austin Kearns, Strasburg cranks up the heat and records his sixth K of the day.
• Strasburg finishes off the inning by fanning Russel Branyan with a 96 mph fastball. That makes for seven strikeouts through four innings.
• Tallies through four: 63 pitches, 39 stirkes, 24 balls, 2 walks, 1 hit, 1 run, 7 Ks.

• The batting averages of the Indians' first three up this inning: .169, .250, .241. This should be an easy inning in theory for Strasburg.
• We get to see Strasburg's fielding skills as he has to cover first base while Adam Dunn fields Luis Valbuena's hit for the first out of the inning.
• Strasburg keeping hits on the ground as Anderson Hernandez grounds out to Dunn, who is in position to cover the base by himself.
• Trevor Crowe slaps a grounder up the middle which Christian Guzman takes care of for the final out of the inning.
• No strikeouts this inning, but Strasburg gets through the third while only throwing eight pitches. It's innings like these which may not dazzle, but they will help Strasburg preserve his arm.

• Adam Dunn leads off the inning with a double. Two batters later, Mike Morse squeaks out a hit down the first-base line that gets Dunn home. It was a bit of an awkward play, though, because Carlos Santana, making his third career start, was blocking the plate despite not having a play on the ball. Getting run over by a 6-foot-6, 285-pound slugger will probably teach him not to do that again.
• Newest Strasburg comparison: Mark Fidrych! Hopefully this doesn't lead to photo-ops with Big Bird.
• Strasburg opens up the inning by giving up a home run to Travis Hafner on a low change up. Austin Kearns then proceeds to make good contact with Strasburg's next pitch, but Mike Morse snags it for the easy out.
• Strasburg settles down against Russel Branyan and collects his third strikeout on a beautiful breaking ball in the dirt.
• Jhonny Peralta gets caught looking at a beautiful curve ball for the final out of the inning.
• Tallies through two innings: 30 pitches, 20 strikes, 10 balls, one hit, one earned run, four strikeouts.
• In his first nine innings of Major League Baseball, Stephen Strasburg struck out 18 batters. That's just silly.

• In broadcasting, they teach you how to tease the audience to make sure they come back after the commercial break. Before the pre-game show went to break, Bob Carpenter teased the audience by saying they would talk about who would try to stop the Indians' hot streak today. I think I know who they're going to say!
• Cleveland is wearing their alternate throwback uniforms today, not to be confused with the 1920's garb they wore last night. If Cleveland wears any more throwback uniforms this weekend, people will start expecting Bob Feller to pitch.
• Bob Carpenter on Strasburg's first pitch: "The glove goes bang." Thanks, Bob.
• One batter up, one batter down. Strasburg still on pace for 27 Ks today.
• Still a lot of people making their way to their seats for today's game. Strasburg starts need to be treated like traveling to the airport for a flight. Plan to leave a few hours early, people.
• Strasburg works up a full count on Shin-Soo Choo before striking out on a 99 mph sinker. Nasty, nasty stuff. Still on pace for 27 Ks today.
• Carlos Santana finally hits something into fair territory, only to fly out to Josh Willingham. The dream for a 27 strikeout performance is gone, but Strasburg can still throw a perfect game. 
• Of course, the plan is to keep Strasburg to 100 pitches or less. He got through the first throwing 15 pitches, which puts him on pace for 6 2/3 innings.