July 16, 2008
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State pitcher Stephen Strasburg has been selected to play on the U.S. baseball team at next month's Olympic Games to be held in Beijing, China. He is the lone amateur named to the 23-man squad that consists primarily of professional players not currently on the active roster of a major league club.
A right-hander who will be a junior at SDSU in the fall, Strasburg is the first college player to be named to the U.S. team since the decision was made to use minor leaguers beginning in 2000. The 2008 roster contains14 players currently at the AAA level, seven in Double-A and one in Single-A. One more player will be added to the roster in the near future to bring the team to its full complement of 24 athletes for the games. For the full roster of the team, click here.
Strasburg will become the fifth Aztec to compete with the U.S. Olympic baseball team, following in the footsteps of former SDSU standouts Chris Gwynn (Outfielder-1984), Flavio Alfaro (shortstop-1984), Travis Lee (first baseman-1996) and Royce Ring (pitcher-2003 Olympic qualifying tournament).
Strasburg made national headlines this year following a 23-strikeout performance against Utah on April 11, 2008, that was part of a breakthrough sophomore campaign. The 19-year-old from San Diego (West Hills HS), who turns 20 on Sunday, is currently anchoring the pitching staff on the 2008 USA Baseball National Team. The team of collegiate all-stars is fresh off a first-place finish at Haarlem Baseball Week in the Netherlands, which included two victories over the Cuban National Team.
Since joining the U.S. national collegiate squad in June, Strasburg has made five starts and compiled a record of 3-0 with a 1.33 earned run average. Over his 27 innings of work, he has struck out 40 and walked four while limiting opponents to a .160 batting average. Included in his win total are victories over Japan and Chinese-Taipei at the Haarlem Baseball Week tournament.
Team USA is currently in the Czech Republic preparing to play in the FISU World Collegiate Baseball Championship that runs from July 17-27. That tourney includes teams representing Korea, Japan, Chinese-Taipei, Lithuania, India and Canada along with the host country. Strasburg is expected to start the USA's opening contest in the tournament against Korea on Friday (July 18).
Following that event, he will join up with the U.S. Olympic team as it plays a four-game series against Canada (Aug. 1-4) in North Carolina before departing for Beijing. The U.S. will open play in China against Korea on Aug. 13 at Wukesong Baseball Stadium. That contest begins the round robin portion of the schedule during which the USA will also face Netherlands, Cuba, Canada, China, Chinese-Taipei and Japan. The top four teams in the standings will then be paired in the semifinals of the medal round.
Fans can follow the progress of the national team currently playing in the Czech Republic at the USA Baseball web site by clicking here to access game reports and statistics.
For news, schedule and results of the U.S. Olympic team click here.