Stephen Strasburg and Gio Gonzalez become stars of National League in first half - MLB Update
Two pitchers, Stephen Strasburg and Gio Gonzalez, with vastly different personalities have almost similar numbers as far as their performance is concerned.
Both belonging to the Washington Nationals, they threw back-to-back innings on Tuesday for the National League in the All-Star game.
Since start of the season, what has been common in both of them is their hunger for drawing strike-outs. Strasburg boasts his fastballs and uses them to trick batters into making mistakes. What makes him more dangerous is the fact that he can throw them
consistently.
By the dint of their regular usage, he has earned his name on the ASG roster. Furthermore, his ratio of striking-out batters per nine innings has been among the best in baseball.
Similarly, Gonzalez employs his fastballs to retire line-ups and replicates the same performance on regular basis. Just like Strasburg, he is part of the All-Star extravaganza.
Keeping this in view, one wonders if both of them overlap in terms of personality traits as much as they do with regard to their performance in the season.
According to the Nationals’ manager Davey Johnson, while Gonzalez is outgoing and extrovert, Strasburg is more like a quiet and reticent type of player.
“Just totally different personalities,” Johnson said. “But whatever they do, it works for them. You never want to change that. It’s who they are and who they’re comfortable being.”
Discussing Gonzalez further, Johnson elaborated, whenever one comes across him, by the very influence of his personality one cannot leave him without smiling.
“With Gio all you have to do is grin and he’s gonna be grinning at you,” said Davey Johnson. “And he’s gonna be hacked off at you if you’re not grinning back at him.”
Furthermore, before the All-Star game started on Tuesday, Gonzalez was walking through the club-house and conversing with every player he was facing on his way. In-turn, he lived up to what his manager had said of him.
Certainly, Strasburg and Gonzalez made the National League proud as they entered the All-Star game on Tuesday. An ease with which both of them finished their respective innings and dominated the American League hitters, the duo charged the fans up in the
game.
The fans will be looking forward to seeing both players help the team enjoy a successful second half of the regular season.
Tags: