Stephen Strasburg

Stephen James Strasburg (born July 20, 1988) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Washington Nationals of Major League Baseball (MLB).

He finished with three varsity letters, set school records in ERA and shutouts, and was named his school's 2006 Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

He was also named second-team all-league and his team's MVP.

Despite these achievements, he was not selected in that year's Major League Baseball draft.

Strasburg had hoped to attend Stanford University but was not accepted there.

Although recruited by a number of schools across the country, he enrolled at San Diego State University, where both of his parents attended school.

He played college baseball for the San Diego State Aztecs, coached by Baseball Hall of Fame player Tony Gwynn.

When he first arrived, Strasburg was an unlikely candidate to pitch collegiate baseball at all; he was quite overweight and out of shape.

His conditioning coach nicknamed him "Slothburg" and encouraged him to quit baseball.

He also had a difficult time adjusting to college life, moving out of his dormitory and in with his mother after five days.

He acknowledged, "I wasn't the most mature guy out of high school. … The dorm was an overload, too much, too soon."

Strasburg responded with an intense workout regimen, losing 30 lbs in the process.

He also worked to improve his mental toughness.

Coaches tested him by placing him in high-pressure situations and telling him he needed to get strikeouts.

San Diego State used Strasburg as a relief pitcher in his freshman year; he began the season pitching in middle relief before becoming the Aztecs' closer.

He held opponents to a .141 batting average against and was named Co-Freshman of the Year for the Mountain West Conference.

In the summer of 2007, Strasburg also played for the Torrington Twisters of the collegiate summer baseball New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL).

He was named to the NECBL First Team as a closer, and was also chosen as the Top Pro Prospect and Top Relief Pitcher in the NECBL.

Strasburg pitched for the United States national baseball team at the 2008 Summer Olympics, winning the bronze medal.

Two years later, he was called the "most-hyped pick in draft history" by ESPN and the "most hyped and closely watched pitching prospect in the history of baseball" by Sports Illustrated.

In 2008, as a sophomore, Strasburg was converted to a full-time starting pitcher.

He went 8–3 with a 1.58 ERA and 134 strikeouts in 98 1⁄3 innings.

Four of his thirteen starts in 2008 were complete games, two of which were shutouts.

On April 11 of that year, he struck out a Mountain West Conference record 23 batters in a game versus the University of Utah.

Strasburg was selected by Washington with the first overall pick in the 2009 Major League Baseball draft.

He made his major league debut in 2010 and is a three-time All-Star.

A talented but unpolished high school baseball player at West Hills High School, Strasburg played college baseball for the San Diego State Aztecs.

There, he became one of the best collegiate pitchers in the country.

Strasburg's major league debut in June 2010 produced a franchise-record 14 strikeouts.

Several months into his major league career, Strasburg tore a ligament in his pitching elbow.

The injury required Tommy John surgery and a year of rehabilitation.

He rejoined the Nationals on September 6, 2011, but was only able to pitch 24 innings that year.

Strasburg's 2012 season marked a successful return to form; he was selected to play in the 2012 MLB All-Star Game.

Strasburg led the National League (NL) in strikeouts in 2014, pitching an average fastball of 94.8 miles per hour that year.

In the 2019 postseason, he recorded five wins, tying the record for most victories in a single postseason, shared by Randy Johnson and Francisco Rodríguez and becoming the first pitcher in MLB history to achieve a 5–0 postseason record.

Strasburg was awarded the World Series MVP award, as he helped lead the Nationals to victory over the Houston Astros.

Strasburg attended West Hills High School in Santee, California.

At first, he struggled on the school's baseball team, posting a 1–10 win–loss record in his junior year.

A 12-strikeout game against El Capitan High School in his senior year, in which Strasburg allowed just one hit, drew attention from scouts.

He finished his senior year with a 1.68 earned run average (ERA) and 74 strikeouts in innings pitched, with seven complete games.