Even If He's The Next David Clyde, Nationals Must Draft Steven Strasburg

Well, the Major League Baseball amateur draft is finally upon us, and regardless of all the sleight-of-hand and pseudo-uncertainty coming from the Washington Nationals, don't bother tuning in to the draft broadcast hoping to catch some suspense.

Over the past few months, there have been hundreds of articles written about Steven Strasburg—the man, the pitcher, and the pick. Some say the Nationals will be damned if they draft him while others say they'll be damned if they don't. He'll be the next Nolan Ryan, or he'll be the next David Clyde.

You pick.

The reality of it all is this: While no one knows if he'll ever make it to the major leagues, he probably will. And while no one knows if he'll become a star, he probably will.

What is a certainty, however, is that the Nationals have to draft him, due in part to his his potential, but mainly for what he's already done.

Steven Strasburg was just a month into his sophomore season at San Diego State University. Though he had a superb freshman year with the Aztecs, Strasburg had been the team’s closer and wasn’t generally well-known around the baseball world.

But recently, he was a starter and was no longer cloaked in baseball invisibility.

A week earlier, the 19-year-old took a perfect game into the seventh inning against TCU before settling on a one-hitter while striking out 13. Two weeks earlier, Strasburg struck out 23 Utah Utes while facing the minimum of 27 batters, again giving up just one lonely hit.

And now thousands of fans had packed San Diego’s Tony Gwynn Stadium. But they weren’t there to watch the Aztecs play another little known Mountain West Conference foe.

They were there to watch Steven Strasburg.

Behind him was a young fan taping a giant “K” to the outfield fence each time Strasburg fanned a batter. In front of him was a buxom co-ed, sitting behind home plate, rocking side to side holding a large white sign above her head.

“Yo mama let u date?”

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