Stephen Strasburg

Infobox MLB player
name = Stephen Strasburg

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width = 150px
caption =
team = USA Baseball Olympic Team
number = 29
position = Starting Pitcher
birthdate =birth date and age|1988|7|20
birthplace = city-state|San Diego|California
bats = Right
throws = Right
teams =
*San Diego State University Aztecs (by|2007-Present)
*USA Baseball Olympic Team (by|2008)
awards =
* USA Baseball National Team (College) (2008)

Stephen Strasburg (July 20, by|1988, city-state|San Diego|California) is the lone collegiate player selected for the U.S. Olympic Baseball team at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. He is a right handed power pitcher whose fastball reaches the upper 90s, and is projected to be an early selection in the by|2009 draft. He is 6'4" tall, weighs 220 lbs., and bats right handed.

He had been pitching for the USA Baseball National Team (College) when he was selected to the Olympic Team. He will be a junior at San Diego State University this fall, and was 8-3, with a 1.57 earned run average and 133 strikeouts in 97 innings for the Aztecs last season. On April 11, he struck out 23 University of Utah batters. [cite web|url=http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080716&content_id=3142775&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb|title=USA Baseball names Olympic team|accessdate=2008-08-14]

In his first start at the Olympics, Strasburg one-hit Netherlands over seven innings-- striking out five of the first six batters he faced. The lone hit Strasburg allowed was a seventh inning single to Sharnol Adriana. There were two rain delays each lasting at least 90 minutes, and the game was called off after eight innings following the second wait. The Dutch protested the decision because they had loaded the bases in the ninth inning with no outs against reliever Blaine Neal when the game was called, and they felt that regardless of whether of not they were able to score enough runs to beat the U.S., this was their best run scoring opportunity of the day.

Run differential is a tiebreaker criteria in narrowing the field from eight teams to four for the semifinals. Teams will be ranked by record, and the first tiebreaker, if needed, would be head-to-head. In the event of a three-way tie, the criteria would be run differential. Therefore, it is crucial for teams to score as many runs as possible while holding opponents to as few as possible. [cite web|url=http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080814&content_id=3306573&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb|title=U.S. pitcher flirts with no-hitter in win|accessdate=2008-08-14]

With the US having already secured a spot in the semi-finals medal round, team USA Manager Davey Johnson held Strasburg from what should have been his second start on August 20 in order to pitch him in the first round of the semi-finals against Cuban phemon, Norge Luis Vera. The strategy didn't work as Vera overmatched Strasburg with six innings pitched and only two runs (one earned). Strasburg, meanwhile, lasted only four innings while giving up three runs (two earned). The final score of the game was Cuba 10, team USA 2.

Straburg ended up with a 1-1 record, a 1.64 ERA and a Bronze medal for the Olympics, as Team USA won its following contest against Japan 8-4.

2008 USA Baseball Olympic Team roster

References