Ten Years Later: Looking Back At Stephen Strasburg's 14 Strikeout Debut

SI's Stephanie Apstein recalls Strasburg's MLB debut

In Stephen Strasburg's much-anticipated MLB debut he had quite the outing. On June 8th 2010, Strasburg, who was the most exciting rookie the MLB had seen in years, made his debut where he struck out 14 batters. In today's Daily Cover SI's Stephanie Apstein wrote about Strasburg's debut ten years later and where the pitchers legacy stands currently.

Video Transcript:

Kaitlin O'Toole: Ten years ago Monday, Stephen Strasburg entered the MLB and it was the most highly anticipated debut of any player in the history of Major League Baseball. Before that night, no pitcher had struck out as many as 14 hitters without locking any in his big league debut. 

Joining me now is SI writer Stephanie Apstein. Stephanie Strasburg was the most hyped pitching prospect in history and then showed up and struck out 14 guys, including seven in a row in seven innings. What was the hype like going into this game?

Stephanie Apstein: It was pretty wild. His had been first overall pick the year before and during his minor league starts, they had a little extra security. His Minor League starts sold out. He was only in with teams like two weeks before he would get promoted to the next level. It was all anybody could talk about. And then when he finally debuted, the Nationals had just had the first overall pick the second year in a row, they had just taken Bryce Harper. So it felt like a really big moment for the franchise. That day, a lot of the players I talked to said it felt like a playoff game. There was so much traffic, so many media. Fans trying to get in three and a half hours before the game. The place was just electric. 

Kaitlin O'Toole: Well the hype was worth it. It was an incredible game and he's had quite the career. But it hasn't always been that easy. He did have to undergo Tommy John surgery. But if there's anything we've learned from Strasburg it's is that he is resilient. 

Stephanie Apstein: Yeah. Yeah, it was rough. That same year of his debut, we had to have Tommy John surgery and then they held him out of the playoffs in 2012 to keep him safe. But actually, it worked out pretty well for them. He was the MVP of the World Series in 2019.