Stephen Strasburg VS James Paxton is Underrated

Overtime Heroics Editorial

1163 days ago

While the primetime matchup between Gerrit Cole and Max Scherzer is definitely worth the hype, it’s underrating another huge matchup. On July 25th, we will most likely see James Paxton and Stephen Strasburg going toe-to-toe. Why isn’t this talked about enough? These are two of the game’s best pitchers, each playing for an elite team, and should get more attention.

Stephen Strasburg and James Paxton Have Been Great

While James Paxton struggled in the first half of 2019, since 2017 he’s been pretty darn good. Strasburg has been better, but if you look at their numbers, these two are some of the top pitchers since 2017.

(2017-2019)	ERA	FIP	xFIP	SIERA	K/9
Stephen Strasburg	3.15 (13th)	3.16 (9th)	3.23 (10th)	3.41 (11th)	10.69 (11th)
James Paxton	3.54 (25th)	3.26 (12th)	3.43 (16th)	3.45 (13th)	11.07 (6th)

Stephen Strasburg has clearly been better, but Paxton has been very good as well. The two are both dominate strikeout pitchers, one from the left-hand side and the other from the right. The pitchers are great, but why are they underrated?

Pitching After Scherzer and Cole

Having to pitch after the two best pitchers in baseball is tough for your ratings. It’s going to be hard to outpitch or outperform two guys who have been beyond elite since 2018, and are even better strikeout pitchers. The biggest detriment to their ratings will be that unlike Opening Day, this game will not be on ESPN Thursday Night Baseball, it will be on the teams’ local networks.

If you do decide to watch the entire duration of this game, what are you in for?

Early Game Pitcher’s Duel, Late Game Fireworks

I think the starters will go seven innings. Furthermore, ithink Strasburg will give up one run while Paxton gives up two. The Yankees bullpen is very good, unlike the Nationals who have a huge weakness in that area. This will lead to the Yankees tying the game, and then extra innings where you will see the bats come alive. You’ll probably get a classic duel at the start, then a fireworks show of hitting at the end.

This is poised to be one of the best games this year, and I think it’ll be a great game to watch.

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