Stephen Strasburg's second rehab start, at Class A Potomac Friday night, had Washington fans and media buzzing, and rightfully so. The fireballing young phenom threw 33 pitches in his three innings of work, 26 for strikes, and looked dominant on the mound against the Myrtle Beach Pelicans. He looked so dominant that Spin Williams, the Nationals' minor league pitching coordinator, even had this to say:
Obviously, he looked like he was in midseason form.
Spin, that would make a lot more sense if, as Cindy Boren points out on twitter, Strasburg had ever had a midseason.
Strasburg made his major league debut June 8 of 2010. He made twelve starts last year, totaling 68 innings, before leaving his August 21st with an arm injury that would lead to the announcement one week later that Strasburg needed Tommy John surgery for a torn ulnar collateral ligament. Not to nitpick, but to reiterate what Boren said, the kid wasn't even in the big leagues long enough to have a midseason.
If I may guess what Spin was trying to really get at, I think he means Strasburg is moving along quite well in his rehab, and the the young righty looks as good as he did last year when he burst on to the big league scene and was mowing down batters. And if that's what he meant, well then giddyup, I can't wait to see Strasburg back on the mound at Nationals Park in early September.