2010 World Cup betting players will have their eyes open for the next great young player to emerge on the soccer scene in the tournament in South Africa, but in baseball on Tuesday night, MLB betting fans got a glimpse into the future, and his name is Stephen Strasburg.
Strasburg, the No.1 pick in the 2009 draft, made his much-hyped MLB debut on Tuesday night after tearing up the minor leagues, and he faced Pittsburgh, who went into the game with the lowest amount of runs scored in the National League, as well as the worst batting average. Strasburg got off to a bit of a rough start as he struggled to find the strike zone over his first couple of batters, but he struck out former National Lastings Milledge to end the first inning. Everything was going swimmingly for Strasburg until the fourth inning, when Delwyn Young blasted a changeup over the right-field fence for a two-run homer. However, those who will be watching a World Cup contest would like their team to bounce back after giving up a goal the way Strasburg did after being taken deep by Young. The 21-year-old then seemed to take it up a notch, and his ending was the stuff dreams are made of: Strasburg retired the last 10 batters he faced, and more impressively, he struck out his last seven hitters for a total of 14 on the night….that's right: FOURTEEN.
Where to start with the numbers? Strasburg's 14 strikeouts set a Washington record, and only Karl Spooner and J.R. Richard with 15 strikeouts had more Ks in their MLB debut. But Strasburg's first game may be more impressive because of the era that he's in (even though he faced the Pirates), and the fact that he didn't walk a single batter. All told, he gave up a pair of runs on four hits over seven strong innings, throwing 94 pitches (Washington gave him a 90-pitch limit but decided to let him finish the seventh inning). Much like Tiger Woods is the prohibitive US Open betting favorite (despite his troubles), Strasburg may end up being the prohibitive Cy Young favorite in the National League every single year for the next few seasons, barring injury. We know it's far too early to jump the gun, and of course, people will point out the fact that he played the Pirates, which may not be much better than a minor-league team, if at all, but if you watched the game and saw the way he combined a 95-100 mph fastball that got broke the century mark on a couple occasions, with a 80 mph off-speed pitch that buckled knees, it's difficult to not get excited. With Strasburg at the helm, Washington may be an online sports betting player sooner than you think.