Bryce and Strasburg Trackers

Do we talk about the Davey thing? Or do we kind of just let that slide? It was kind of snuck in there right before Opening Day.  I don't know.  I say let it slide. Despite the fact that I think he blew the use of the bullpen in the NLDS and he's a bit heavy on the "look at what a curmudgeon I am!" shtick, I like Davey alot. He's a good manager who's been down this winning road before. The Nats don't need to replace him. At the same time, this team is super awesome and nearly anyone could win with it. You,me, them, everybody. So let's just take it off the back burner and let it cool over here.  Maybe we can store it in the fridge in a bit.

The Nats have two young superstars that are generational talents. I don't think we can stress this enough.  Bryce Harper and Stephen Strasburg aren't merely great prospects, they are the best young players at their respective positions we've seen in a long while. Are they going to end up being the best players of their generation? Not necessarily, there are thousands of players out there and they all don't follow the paths they are supposed to. Bryce and/or Stephen could disappoint. Someone else could surprise. But nothing we've seen so far hints at disappointment, so right now they have as good a chance as anyone to be remembered as the defnining players of the 10s and early 20s.

For fun I'm going to track their progress hitting a couple of "milestones".  For Strasburg we are going to look at SO/BB rate and ERA+.  Looking at pitchers who in their first 4 seasons pitched 400+ innings (which Strasburg should easily hit this year) where does Strasburg stack up?

SO/BB - 4.57, Kevin Slowey (yes Kevin Slowey - but the other pitchers up there are good, trust me) .

• Strasburg - 4.7.  He'd be #1 right now so as long as he stays the course he'll be fine. Tough course to stay though. 

ERA+ - 161, Howie Pollet (again other pitchers up there you'll know as good - though damn if Pollet wasn't dominant when young)

• Strasburg - 139.  It'll be a tough one for Strasburg to break but an ERA in the low 2.00s would do it.

For Bryce we can include a counting stat, since his early career wasn't messed up by injury like Strasburg's was.  We're going to look at home runs and OPS+ for guys who played at least 200 games before their "age 21" season.

HRs - 61, Mel Ott. 

• Bryce - 24.  He needed 39 to tie to start the year.  I probably would have bet against that on March 31st.  Now? He could hit 37 more by the All-Star break and I wouldn't.... ok that'd still surprise me, but 37 more by year's end? Nope. I think he can do it.

OPS+ - 145,  Ty Cobb

• Bryce - 123. It would take a best in the year, MVP type season to make it but does anyone think he can't do it?

We'll check in on this every month or so. Let's see if the Nats' guys can leave their mark on history.