Stephen Strasburg Needs To Be Perfect for Washington Nationals in Debut

The big day has arrived.

Nationally recognized as "the most hyped and closely watched pitching prospect in the history of baseball" by Sports Illustrated, 21-year-old Stephen Strasburg will make his pitching debut for the Washington Nationals tonight against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Rookie Strasburg was selected as the number one overall MLB draft pick in 2009, and the anticipation for his major league debut comes to a head at 7:05 p.m. at the Nationals' home field in Washington, D.C.

It could be said that there's just a little bit of pressure on Strasburg.

The right-handed pitcher is expected to live up to the fame and put on a show-stopper performance when he takes the major league mound for the first time.

In his previous Double-A debut with the Harrisburg Senators, Strasburg recorded a win,  allowing four hits and four runs with a total of eight strikeouts in eight innings.

That debut was so eagerly anticipated that ESPN nationally broadcasted the minor league half-innings in which Strasburg was pitching.

Expect this major league debut to be on the same kind of level.

Nationals fans have been advised to arrive to the gates early, as the nation's capital is expecting traffic chaos of outstanding proportions.

So what happens if the "most hyped pitching debut the game has ever seen" is a flop?

Most likely, fans, teammates, and Strasburg hopefuls alike will wonder what all the hype was about in the first place.

Success is what is expected of the previous number one draft pick, and if success is not what Strasburg achieves, it would be expected that he could lose the spotlight that has been shining so brightly on his career.

However, Strasburg is no stranger to living up to the buzz surrounding him. He has faced record breaking attendance debuts before, and he has come out on top.

In his debut with the Triple-A Syracuse Chiefs, he pitched six scoreless innings, allowing only one hit and one walk. That day, the Chiefs entertained the highest attendance in the 135-year history of baseball in Syracuse.

Nationals general manager Mike Ruzzo's advice for Strasburg is simple.

"He needs to take a step back, take a deep breath, and kind of soak in the moment," he says. "You only debut once."

Hype, anticipation, and recording breaking crowds are a familiar thing to Strasburg, and it's doubtful that they will get the best of him tonight.