The Orchid

It was over a year ago that Tony Kornheiser aptly named Stephen Strasburg “The Orchid” in a piece he penned .  Since then the phenom who was tagged as the “ best pitching prospect ever ” when he entered the amateur draft in 2009, has struggled to fulfill all of that remarkable potential. Those very unique abilities are coming under closer scrutiny after the still-26 year old pitcher, flamed out against the Diamondbacks two nights ago, giving up seven earned runs in three and a third innings to take the loss in one of the worst games of his career.

Kornheiser was drawing attention to the temperamental personality of Strasburg and the need for him to have the best possible conditions to produce success, but also his need for privacy. He gives few interviews and shares little with the press, but Tyler Clippard, who pitched with Strasburg from the beginning until Clippard’s departure for Oakland, gave some insights in a recent interview on Sirius XM radio. Clippard spoke to the criticism of Strasburg who has produced nothing but excellence in his  six seasons, saying it was unfair and failed to take into account Strasburg’s remarkable success.

The 2014 season, when Strasburg pitched 215 innings, might be considered his best and it is certainly the one where he achieved maturity after coming back from Tommy John surgery late in 2010. His 3.15 ERA last season was impeccable, but the young pitcher is probably more proud of leading the National League with 34 starts and 242 strikeouts, one a mark of endurance and the other of pitching mastery. Yet it was at the beginning of that season that Kornheiser penned the nickname that has stuck and much of what happened last year was the basis for Clippard being asked about why Strasburg’s performance is so often questioned.

The answer lies not only in the hype that accompanied Strasburg coming out of San Diego State, but his remarkable success early on. His f irst start  on June 8, 2010 was an electric one. He was pitching in Washington, DC against the Pittsburgh Pirates and the storybook 100 mph fastball was on full display. He cranked the velocity up to 100 mph at will and the Pirates were unable to do much with it, striking out 14 times over seven innings. The crowd was on its feet for much of the last inning as the heat came pouring in and the young phenom struck out the last seven batters he faced. He continued apace for several months and the future looked remarkably bright, but on August 21st Strasbug left start number 12 of that season holding his elbow and it was soon revealed he would need season-ending surgery. He had pitched in his first season in the Majors to a 2.91 ERA and had fanned 92 batters in 62 innings. Though he was out much of the following season, much was expected after his eye-popping rookie campaign.

What Tyler Clippard did not talk about was the inconsistency that has plagued Strasburg since he first wrote his name across a starry DC night in June. Strasburg’s maddening magician’s quality to stunningly pull a turkey from a hat in the first innings of a game has gotten him almost as much attention as the excellence. He has become well known for first inning woes, but it is just as much his ability to throw near perfection for those first few innings and then lose it almost as quickly.

Early in the 2015 season, MASN commentator Ray Knight presented a perceptive analysis of Strasburg in which he graphically demonstrated the difference in his pitches with clear video of the distinctions. When he is “on” the fastball sits at 96-97 mph, the curve has a sharp 12-to-6 break, and his changeup looks like a strike before diving down below the zone. When he is “off,” the curve slides across the zone without much deception, the changeup bounces in front of the plate and no hitter is fooled.  When those off-speed pitches don’t work or when he fails to use them effectively, the hitters sit on the fastball and pound his offerings just like they did in Arizona two nights ago.

The inconsistency derives from Strasburg’s inability to maintain his stuff across starts and within each start as well. When he is good he is very good, and when he is bad, he is awful. The statement is unfair because Strasburg has been very good almost uniformly as his career ERA of 3.18 will attest. In 2013 Strasburg had a rough start to the season, but his current ERA of 6.06 through mid-May is far above anything he has seen in any season of his career dating back to college.

Strasburg is likely to right the ship because his stuff is just too good, but he has reached a new low and the last two weeks have to be the worst in his career, besides of course the season he sat out. He will need to reach further into his considerable bag of tricks to dig out of this current hole, the depths of which have been surprising.

The current malaise first became apparent on May 5th when Strasburg took the mound against Miami in Washington, Strasburg started in somewhat typical fashion, leaving two runners aboard in the first inning on a walk and a single. He was not sharp, but looked to have better command than at his worst. But coming off the mound at the end of the first inning he was noticeably stormy and abrupt, leaving the dugout for the clubhouse obviously in a huff.  In the prior start there had been words between he and pitching coach Steve McCatty in the dugout between innings, but nothing much had been said publicly about the nature of the disagreement.

When Strasburg exited the first inning against the Marlins, McCatty exchanged glances with manager Matt Williams and shrugged his shoulders. The pitcher who emerged to begin the second inning was clearly out of sorts emotionally. He gave up a lead-off triple to J.T. Realmuto and a single to Ichiro Suzuki. He then hit Adeiny Hechavararria with a pitch and on the sacrifice bunt by Mat Latos back towards the mound, Strasburg threw the ball into the ground half way to first base. The ball skittered away from Ryan Zimmerman and Suzuki was able to score to give the Marlins a 2-0 lead. After that fiasco Strasburg stood on the mound and began to arch his throwing arm and complained of discomfort below his shoulder blades when visited by McCatty, Williams and the training staff. Although he insisted everything was okay at that point, he exited the game in the third inning.

Between starts, Strasburg consulted a chiropractor, seeking to “realign” his pitching motion.  Most in DC breathed a sigh of relief that it was nothing serious and the former ace of the staff missed a start while he worked out the kinks. But his first start back from Chiropractic Realignment was the aforementioned seven-run nightmare against the Diamonbacks.

On April 1, 2013 Stephen Strasburg threw seven shutout innings on Opening Day of that year and Bryce Harper hit two home runs to win the game by a margin of 2-0. It looked as though the two wunderkinds drafted back-to-back by the Washington Nationals were going to achieve dominance together. They may yet do so, but so far in 2015 the two players are on very different trajectories. Strasburg’s average velocity has fallen off in the past seasons, while the velocity with which Harper launch them has started to pick up pace. Strasburg is looking for his mojo in the Chiropractor’s office, while Harper has found it by showing new patience in his approach at the plate.

Baseball is a funny game and impossible to predict. But winning baseball teams are a symphonic chorale where the tinniest off-pitch note can spoil the entire effect. The Washington Nationals sound like Beethoven’s 1912 Overture with cannons booming and the brass section blaring in triumph, but they need everyone on the same page to make it work. Stephen Strasburg has been more important to the resurgence of Washington baseball than almost anyone and having the “Orchid” in full bloom moving forward is absolutely key if they are going to win it all.