Stephen Strasburg vs. Johnny Cueto on a Sunday

[Box Score]

So I went back to the ballpark today and it was a hot one. I came home with a sunburn and a feeling of satisfaction after the Reds worked over one of the finest talents in the game of baseball today.

It was the second time I have seen Strasburg throw live.

Click through the jump to see Strasburg’s bullpen session as well as other photos and commentary.

So here’s most of Strasburg’s bullpen session. My apologies for forgetting how shitty the filming camera is on the iPhone. I forgot to turn it sideways in all of my excitement and kind of ruined it for everyone. You can still hear the pop of the glove and get a feel for what kind of bull is about to enter the arena.

Sorry again about the video; this should have been awesome and it really sucks.

So here’s the finest GM in the big leagues today, Mike Rizzo. Funny story, if you look closely you can almost see Rizzo holding an over-sized cup of coffee. If you can’t see it, trust me it’s there. About two minutes after this photo was snapped, a ball ricocheted in from a player taking some pre-game ground balls and bounces up, perfectly squaring the bottom of Rizzo’s coffee cup. The coffee goes all down the front of the man’s suit and covers his white shirt.

I said ‘hey Riz, you want to borrow my shirt’, and he nodded and kind of giggled, clearly half-pissed. He emerged with a more Sunday casual grey shirt and no cup of coffee. Honestly when the ball hit his cup of coffee he looked around with a look that said ‘who should I kill?’.

There’s not much to say about this one other than it’s a cool shot of Denard Span (readying for the first pitch of the game), Jayson Werth, and Bryce Harper all in one shot.

Johnny Cueto is just a friggin’ horse out there. Guy just plain battles, and he by no means had his best stuff but still willed his team to victory. He gave up a three run homer to Kurt Suzuki in the second inning–Kurt Suzuki had a day today–but didn’t allow another run despite walking three and allowing seven hits.

Bryce Harper singled to left field on the first pitch of his first at-bat. After that he grounded out to second softly and struck out twice. Quiet day for Harper all-around. We arrived at the stadium around 11:00 AM EST to see him take batting practice. By the time were allowed entry to the park, it was 11:40 AM EST. Just in time to see the likes of Roger Bernadina and Tyler Moore finishing their hacks. Oh and Chad Tracy too. We’re being facetious. It’s frustrating that the Reds basically cause you to miss batting practice now for both teams.

The Reds made Stephen Strasburg work today. He threw a surprising 114 pitches. He lived around 96 and 97 MPH. Jay Bruce doubled in two runs in the bottom of the first (he has handled Strasburg well in his career in two games thus far) and I left the stadium today feeling like the Reds had sent a message to any scouts or other organizations around baseball who were paying attention. Stephen Strasburg usually runs things when he’s on the hill. I’ve never really seen him like this before. He got handled by a very, very methodical offense from the opening bell today. The Reds showed up to the park this afternoon and took the fight to him from when Shin-soo Choo led off by nearly taking Strasburg deep, flying out to right field.

And if you count Votto, Harper, Strasburgh, and this guy; that’s four freaks that appeared in today’s ballgame. Not a bad day at the ball yard if you get to see Strasburg, Cueto, and Aroldis Chapman sling it. Chapman finished the game with consecutive 101 mile an hour pitches to Denard Span. Yes, the game ended with Denard Span waving through a pitch and the crowd roaring on their feet for the bad man from Cuba.

Here’s a good shot of another flame-thrower whom I really like, Henry Rodriguez. He recorded a scoreless 8th inning today for the Nationals.

Here’s other odds and ends from today:

-I had the Big Red Smokey today at the ballpark with a little sauerkraut. I’ve had a lot of dogs at parks before. They have always seemed so unsatisfying to me. I don’t know if it’s because I’ve been eating so healthy and mostly vegan for a couple months, but my goodness when I sank my teeth into this thing I asked myself if I’ve ever had a better dog. It was unreal. I had some peanuts later too. If you go to Great American, seek out the Big Red Smokey. We endorse it here at Diamond Hoggers.

-Look at what my little fantasy team did today. I’m proud of these little shits:

-Today was the day that Will Middlebrooks went deep three times, and flew out to the track in his fourth attempt.

-Buster Olney supposedly said that the Rangers may possibly look to move Jurickson Profar for Giancarlo Stanton or David Price. I really hope the Marlins never accomplish anything again. Jeffrey Loria is a horse shit owner.

–2000 Inning Quest Update:

Saturday, 4/6 – 11 innings

Sunday, 4/7 – 9 innings

Cumulative Total: 109 innings watched, 1891 innings remaining