Admit it, Washington Nationals fans: you've thought many times this year about how Stephen Strasburg may one day be as nasty as Justin Verlander was in 2011. As it turns out, Verlander himself has been thinking about the same thing. Adam Kilgore caught up with Verlander to discuss Strasburg, and Verlander gave some pretty great answers, including this one:
"He throws 100 with a hammer and a changeup," Verlander said Wednesday, during a brief conversation following his news conference. "There’s really nobody else. Comparison-wise, it’s him and I right now."
The whole piece is worth reading, especially because Verlander provides some really good insight on how he was able to harness his natural gifts. The irony is that Strasburg himself provided this quote for the story (emphasis mine).
"I don’t like comparing myself to other any other pitcher," Strasburg said. "I’m sure he doesn’t like comparing himself to anybody else, either. He’s great at what he does. He’s had an unbelievable year. It’s something that I’m shooting for to do somewhere down the road."
Funny how Verlander ended up doing just that.