The number one reward for last place

 Well the Nationals really dropped the ball with Aaron Crow. The Nats first round pick last year who was just shy of major league ready, chock full of talent, and was easily the best pitcher in college baseball, evidently wasn't worth the the extra Hendricks tax to sign him to the club. Instead of signing a below value contract, Crow elected to take the year off and re-enter the draft in the summer of 2009, where he is still projected to be a top 10 pick.

The good news for the club however is that their 102 loss season left them with the worst record in baseball, and as a result the Nats will have the number one overall pick in the upcoming draft. It seems the consensus top pick on everyones draft board is right handed pitcher Steven Strasburg, and he may very well be the savior of the Washington Nationals franchise. Many are already comparing him to previous top college pitchers David Price, Clayton Kershaw, Mark Prior, and Tim Lincecum.

A right-handed starter from San Diego State University, Strasburg has risen to the top of the college pitching ranks with authority both on the mound and with his reputation. At six foot four inches, 220 pounds, he stands as your prototypical power pitcher, but with the stuff to put him on the next level. His fastball sits in the high 90's, and he has been known to record 96 on the last pitch of a complete game. He has a plus-plus slider with two break planes and a developing change-up. His mechanics are smooth and he has a good head on his shoulders (turned down scholarships to Harvard and Yale).

Strasburg two biggest accomplishments came last year when first he struck out 23 Utah University batters en route to a complete game one hitter (he happened to be sick that day). And second, as the sole college player on the U.S Olympic baseball team, Strasburg pitched a one hitter sending his team to the medal rounds. Netherlands manager Jim Lefeabvre later said had they known about Strasburg, “They might not have shown up (New York Times).”

Video of Strasburgs 23 K game

 

Video of Strasburg in the pen

 

Bottom line: The Nats are lucky to have a shot at this once in a generation talent. While he certainly makes up for missing out on Crow, it sure would have been nice to have both of them in the mix, as they could be at the top of the rotation by 2011. The Nats should not hesitate to draft, sign, and coddle Strasburg at all cost.

A look at the Nats first pick, Aaron Crow

Aaron Crow came into his freshman year at Missouri as a scrawny right hander who could barley top out at 88 on the radar gun. The young faced teen would join the back end of a solid Tigers rotation that was headed by Max Scherzer, the 11th overall pick in the 2006 MLB Draft. While Crow had a pitchers build (6-3, 195) and solid form and movement, he was your typical work in progress college pitcher. He would be no Francisco Liriano or Felix Hernandez; Crow would have to work for his success.
His first year at Missouri was disappointing. Crow showed excellent control, allowing only 20 walks in 70 innings pitched. However despite his accuracy, his slower fastball and underdeveloped change allowed Big 12 hitters to hit him around for 94 hits. His ERA suffered and he only recorded a 1-4 record on a very good team.

It became apparent that at his current state, he would never be a top of the rotation starter, and it was most likely the best thing to ever happen to him.
Crow decided to learn how to become a pitcher. His stepped his training up to a Major League level. His fastballs velocity skyrocketed from peaking at 88, to peaking at 98, constantly landing between 94 and 96 on the radar. Crow polished his mechanics, endurance and changed his curveball to a pin-point slider. He learned to stop throwing hard, and to start throwing well. With this philosophy his fastball maintained speed but became less flat, and harder to hit.
His sophomore year went way better than his freshman. He lowered his ERA under 4; he improved his strikeout rate and lowered his hit rate. Crow was starting to get noticed to have MLB potential. His improvement rate was very impressive and his work ethic impressed scouts. He finished his season 9-3 with a 3.59 ERA earning first team all Big-12 honors.
The fallowing summer would be the most important of his life. Aaron Crow participated in the famous Cape Cod summer league which has traditionally been a launching pad for successful Major League careers. Scouts love the Cape Cod league because it brings the top talent in the country together in one place, and forces them to use wood bats on an even playing field. Crow propelled himself to the top pitching prospect in college baseball by absolutely dominating this difficult league. In 8 games Crow put up an unthinkable 0.67 ERA. He had 36 strikeouts to 9 walks, and made top college batters look silly.
Crow somehow again managed to improve coming into his junior year at Mizzou. In 15 starts in 2008 he went 13-0 with 4 complete games. In 107 innings pitched he struck out 127 batters while only walking 38. He was flat out the best pitcher in college baseball and even had a 42 inning shut out streak coming close to the college record of 47 (Held by Todd Helton). With Crow’s improvement and performance, he became one of the top pitchers ranked going into the draft, and was selected 9th by the Washington Nationals.

Analysis.

With Aaron Crow the Nationals have a pitcher that has the potential to be a frontline starter without a mountain of work. He is very polished and has shown that he has the work ethic to improve and take his abilities to the next level. While he may not have quite Cy Young potential, he certainly has fringe ace ability and certainly could develop into a top number 2 starter. Most importantly for the Nats however, Crow is almost Major League ready as is. It would not be outlandish to see him making starts in Washington in 2009. To put it simply, the Nats may have drafted the pitching version of Ryan Zimmerman. A great college player ready to help the big league club after just a little bit of development.