Stephen Strasburg, Washington Nationals
Jul 7, 2013; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Nationals starting pitcher Stephen Strasburg (37) throws during the first inning against the San Diego Padres at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports
Stephen Strasburg continues the trend of NL hurlers being snubbed, which, again, isn’t a surprise given the amount of good ones.
Strasburg missed 12 games in early June with a shoulder issue. He’s bounced back from that, though.
He gave up four runs on Sunday to the San Diego Padres, but his ERA still sits at a more-than-respectable 2.45. That registers as the sixth-best in the NL, and his FIP of 3.22 registers as the 10th-best. To boot, he has the seventh-highest K/9 in the league.
So the question boils down to: is he more deserving than Jeff Locke, Jordan Zimmermann or Madison Bumgarner?
In a nutshell, the answer is yes. He has a higher K/9 than all three. He has a better ERA than Zimmermann and Bumgarner. And lastly, his FIP is better than Locke’s and Bumgarner’s.
The elephant in that room is Strasburg’s losing record (5-6). That’s accurate, but he got the least amount of run support in the NL before the Nationals boosted that total on Sunday.
Snub-Bound: Ian Desmond (Up for the Final Vote)