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Nats call up top prospect Lucas Giolito to replace Stephen Strasburg
The Washington Nationals are replacing their former No. 1 pitching prospect with their current one. With Stephen Strasburg officially on the disabled list, Nats skipper Dusty Baker announced Monday that they're calling up Lucas Giolito to start Tuesday against the New York Mets in his major-league debut.
Giolito, 21, has been one of the most-hyped pitching prospects in baseball for the past two seasons, ranking at No. 5 on Baseball America's preseason Top 100 list. That's one notch behind Julio Urias, the Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher who debuted last month.
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This sets up an intriguing pitching matchup in D.C. on Tuesday, where Giolito will face Matt Harvey. Fun fact: This is the third top pitching prospect the Mets have faced this season. Urias faced the Mets in his debut, as did Jameson Taillon of the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Mets won both of those games.
Giolito was the 16th overall pick by the Nats in the 2012 draft, coming out of Harvard-Westlake High School in Los Angeles. In the minors, the 6-foot-6 righty established himself as a hard-thrower who is more than capable of striking batters out. He K'd 353 batters in 324 innings since 2012. This season in Double-A, he's 5-3 with a 3.17 ERA and 72 strikeouts in 71 innings.
The Nats aren't saying what their long-term plans are for Giolito — whether he'll fill a hole in the rotation and get sent back down or if there's a chance for him to stick around. Of course, much of that may depend on his performance. From Chelsea Janes of The Washington Post:
Dusty said no way to say if Giolito could make more than one start, by the way. Said his son asked him all this too, couldn't tell him.
— Chelsea Janes (@chelsea_janes) June 27, 2016
It could also depend on the return of Strasburg, who went on the 15-day disabled list Sunday with a back strain. That move is retroactive to July 16, meaning his return could be pretty quick if he's feeling better soon. He's been the Nats' best pitcher this season, going 10-0 with a 2.90 ERA.
With Strasburg now signed long-term Nats fans can count of seeing he and Giolito together in the rotation. And perhaps not so distant into the future.
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Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at mikeozstew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @MikeOz
