23-year old righty starting pitcher Stephen Strasburg has gotten out of the starting gate quickly this year. He has started 2 games for the Nationals so far this year and he is 1-0 with a 0.69 ERA and a 0.85 WHIP. Strasburg has only given up 7 hits and 4 walks in his first 13 innings pitched while whiffing 14 batters. The Nationals will likely have an innings limit on Strasburg, unless they are in the pennant race in September.

23-year old righty Stephen Strasburg, 24-year old lefty Tom Milone and 23-year old righty Brad Peacock have all been showing off impressive arms the last month or so for the Nationals. Strasburg is throwing just as well as he did last year before undergoing Tommy John Surgery. He has pitched in 4 games (all starts) for the Nationals so far this year and he is 0-1 with a 2.00 ERA and a 0.78 WHIP. Tom Milone came into this season as the Nationals’ #16 prospect according to Baseball America. He is also looking sharp for the Nationals as he has started 5 games so far for them and he is 1-0 with a 3.81 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP. 23-year old righty Brad Peacock came into this season as the Nationals’ #10 prospect according to Baseball America. He has pitched in 3 games (2 starts) for the Nationals so far this year and he is 2-0 with a 0.75 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP. Strasburg, Milone and Peacock all have bright futures for the Nationals.

The Nationals have decided to shut down 25-year old righty starting pitcher Jordan Zimmerman for the rest of the 2011 season to protect his right arm. Zimmerman pitched in 26 games (all starts) for the Nationals this year and he was 8-11 with a 3.18 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP. He gave up 154 hits while only walking 31 batters in 161 1/3 innings this year for the Nationals. He also whiffed 124 batters this year. Zimmerman has now pitched in 49 games (all starts) in his first three years with the Nationals and he is 12-18 with a 3.84 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP. It was probably a smart move to shut Zimmerman down, as he has a very bright future with the Nationals.

26-year old lefty starting pitcher John Lannan has been solid this whole year for the Nationals. He has pitched in 27 games (all starts) for the Nationals so far this year and he is 8-10 with a 3.59 ERA and a 1.44 WHIP. Lannan has only allowed 153 hits in 155 innings so far this year, but he has run into some trouble because of his control at times as he has walked 65 batters this year. That being said, Lannan should have more wins than he has so far this year, because he has pitched pretty well.

The Twins really wanted to get 23-year old righty closer Drew Storen from the Nationals in a deal for Denard Span. The Nationals are smart for keeping Storen and telling the Twins, no thanks. Storen has pitched in 54 games (0 starts) for the Nationals so far this year and he is 6-2 with 30 saves, a 2.70 ERA and a 0.99 WHIP. He has only given up 42 hits and 14 walks in his first 56 2/3 innings this year and he has whiffed 47 batters, which are pretty impressive numbers. I think Storen is going to develop into a lockdown closer in the very near future for the Nationals and those kind of pitchers are very hard to find.