Nationals starting pitcher Stephen Strasburg never pitched more than seven innings in a game last season and was plagued at times by high pitch counts. Although, on opening day 2013 he needed just 80 pitches to breeze through seven innings against the Marlins.
Shortstop Ian Desmond offered up his opinion on why Strasburg was so effective Monday.
"I think he fights himself because he’s got so many quality pitches he can throw, and he can get hitters out in so many ways," Desmond said, per The Washington Post. "He’s just got to trust early contact and let them put the ball in play and moving through the game -- not necessarily trying to strike everybody out."
Strasburg managed just thee strikeouts Monday. However, he coaxed 10 groundouts as opposed to five flyouts.