Stephen James Strasburg (; born July 20, 1988) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who is currently an assistant with the San Diego State Aztecs baseball program. He spent his entire 13-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the Washington Nationals. He is a three-time All-Star and the World Series MVP of the Nationals team that won the 2019 World Series.
A talented but unpolished high school baseball player at West Hills High School, Strasburg played college baseball for the San Diego State Aztecs. There, he became one of the best collegiate pitchers in the country. Strasburg pitched for the United States national baseball team at the 2008 Summer Olympics, winning the bronze medal. Two years later, he was called the "most-hyped pick in draft history" by ESPN and the "most hyped and closely watched pitching prospect in the history of baseball" by Sports Illustrated.
Strasburg was selected by Washington with the first overall pick in the 2009 MLB draft. He recorded a franchise-record 14 strikeouts in his major league debut in June 2010. In his 12th major league game, Strasburg tore a ligament in his pitching elbow. The injury required Tommy John surgery and a year of rehabilitation. He rejoined the Nationals in September 2011, but was only able to pitch 24 innings that year. Strasburg's 2012 season marked a successful return to form; he was selected to play in the 2012 MLB All-Star Game. After he pitched 28 games in the 2012 season, the Nationals decided to shut him down for the rest of the year out to avoid overworking him in his first year after surgery. The move was highly controversial and was the subject of much debate, especially since the Nationals made the playoffs for the first time in 2012 but were eliminated in the first round.
Strasburg established himself as one of the premier pitchers in the game, though he was placed on the disabled list due to injuries several times. He led the National League (NL) in strikeouts in 2014. During the 2016 season, he signed a seven-year contract extension to remain with the Nationals, and was an All-Star that year and the following year. He led the NL in wins in 2019 with 18. Strasburg received the 2019 World Series Most Valuable Player Award for starting and winning two games against the Houston Astros as the Nationals won their first championship.
Following the Nationals' 2019 World Series victory, Strasburg opted out of his contract and then re-signed with the Nationals on a larger seven-year, $245 million deal, which was to run through 2026. Strasburg pitched only 311⁄3 innings for the Nationals after signing that contract, making his final appearance in 2022. After repeated attempts to repair damage from thoracic outlet syndrome failed, Strasburg officially retired in 2024.
Strasburg was born in San Diego, California, to Jim Strasburg, a real estate developer, and Kathleen Swett Strasburg, a dietician. He grew up a San Diego Padres fan.
Strasburg credits his maternal grandmother with helping him develop his baseball skills as a child. She would frequently play catch and even work on pitching with him. He labels her as one of his biggest inspirations.
Strasburg attended West Hills High School in Santee, California. At first, he struggled on the school's baseball team, posting a 1–10 win–loss record in his junior year. A 12-strikeout game against El Capitan High School in his senior year, in which Strasburg allowed just one hit, drew attention from scouts. He finished his senior year with a 1.68 earned run average (ERA) and 74 strikeouts in 62+1⁄3 innings pitched, with seven complete games. He finished with three varsity letters, set school records in ERA and shutouts, and was named his school's 2006 Scholar-Athlete of the Year. He was also named second-team all-league and his team's MVP. Despite these achievements, he was not selected in that year's Major League Baseball draft.
Strasburg had hoped to attend Stanford University but was not accepted there. Although recruited by a number of schools across the country, he enrolled locally at San Diego State University, where both of his parents attended school. He played college baseball for the San Diego State Aztecs, coached by Baseball Hall of Fame player Tony Gwynn. When he first arrived, Strasburg was an unlikely candidate to pitch collegiate baseball at all; he was quite overweight and out of shape. His conditioning coach nicknamed him "Slothburg" and encouraged him to quit baseball. He also had a difficult time adjusting to college life, moving out of his dormitory and in with his mother after five days. He acknowledged, "I wasn't the most mature guy out of high school. … The dorm was an overload, too much, too soon." Strasburg responded with an intense workout regimen, losing 30 pounds (14 kg) in the process. He also worked to improve his mental toughness. Coaches tested him by placing him in high-pressure situations and telling him he needed to get strikeouts.
San Diego State used Strasburg as a relief pitcher in his freshman year; he began the season pitching in middle relief before becoming the Aztecs' closer. He held opponents to a .141 batting average against and was named Co-Freshman of the Year for the Mountain West Conference. In the summer of 2007, Strasburg also played for the Torrington Twisters and Vermont Mountaineers of the collegiate summer baseball New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL). He was named to the NECBL First Team as a closer, and was also chosen as the Top Pro Prospect and Top Relief Pitcher in the NECBL.
In 2008, as a sophomore, Strasburg was converted to a full-time starting pitcher. He went 8–3 with a 1.58 ERA and 134 strikeouts in 98+1⁄3 innings. Four of his thirteen starts in 2008 were complete games, two of which were shutouts. On April 11 of that year, he struck out a Mountain West Conference record 23 batters in a game versus the University of Utah. He also gained eight miles per hour on his fastball, regularly working in the upper 90s and touching 100 mph.
Strasburg finished his junior year, the 2009 season, 13–1 with a 1.32 ERA, 59 hits allowed, 16 earned runs, 19 walks, and 195 strikeouts in 109 innings pitched. In his final home start on May 8, 2009, Strasburg threw his first career no-hitter while striking out 17 Air Force Falcons batters. His lone loss came against the Virginia Cavaliers in the NCAA Regionals as Virginia advanced toward the College World Series, but he still struck out 15 in seven innings during the loss. He won the Dick Howser Trophy and the National Pitcher of the Year Award.
Strasburg was named to the United States national baseball team on June 24, 2008. In that role, he appeared in the 2008 World University Baseball Championship, held in late July. The United States won the gold medal in the competition.
Strasburg was the lone collegiate player selected for the United States national team at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. In his first start at the Olympics, Strasburg one-hit the Netherlands over seven innings, striking out five of the first six batters he faced and eleven overall. The lone hit Strasburg allowed was a seventh-inning single by Sharnol Adriana.
With the United States having already secured a spot in the semifinals medal round, manager Davey Johnson held Strasburg from what would have been his second start on August 20 in order to start him on August 22 in the first round of the semifinals against Norge Luis Vera of the Cuba national baseball team. Vera outdueled Strasburg, pitching six innings and allowing only two runs, one earned. Strasburg, meanwhile, lasted only four innings while giving up three runs, two earned. Cuba won the game 10–2.
Strasburg ended up with a 1–1 record, a 1.67 ERA, and a bronze medal for the Olympics, as the United States won its following contest against Japan 8–4. He won the USA Baseball Richard W. "Dick" Case Player of the Year Award in 2008.
On June 9, 2009, Strasburg was drafted number one overall in the 2009 Major League Baseball draft by the Washington Nationals. On August 17, 2009, he signed a record-breaking four-year, $15.1 million contract with the Nationals, just 77 seconds before the deadline, shattering a dollar-amount record previously held by Mark Prior, who signed for $10.5 million in 2001. Strasburg is represented by agent Scott Boras.