Future No. 1 Pick a Former Harvard Recruit?

The 2009 Harvard baseball team wrapped up its season yesterday with a 16-13 win, capping a 13-28 campaign, including a 10-10 Ivy League effort that demonstrated marked improvement from last year. But an aspect of the season that didn't improve? That would be the pitching, which boasted a less than stellar ERA of 8.00 (versus 6.20 last year).

As the Crimson shelves its gloves and bats for the summer and thinks back on the year that was, players may cringe a bit when San Diego State senior Stephen Strasburg, who has struck out 23 in one game, one-hit the Netherlands National Team in his first Olympic start, and has been called the greatest prospect ever by Buster Olney,  gets selected first overall during the MLB amateur draft in June. To find out why, read on after the jump.

Strasburg represents an elite breed of college pitcher, with a fastball topping out at an eye-popping 103mph to go along with a nasty 93-94mph slider and devastating curveball. The 20-year old stud might have helped lower Harvard's ERA, considering the former Olympian posted a 1.57 ERA last season and has continued to dominate, going 9-0 so far this year with a 1.54 ERA and 135 strikeouts in just 70.1 innings. Compare that to the Crimson's entire 2009 staff, which logged 211 K's in 332.0 innings.  Kids like this make FlyBy want to indulge it's sports-fetish and become the next Scott Boras.

You might be wondering why Harvard fans should care. Take any all-star and add his stats to your roster fantasy-style and things should be looking up, right?. But trust, we have reason to sigh. Casually mentioned on popular sportsblog Deadspin, it appears Strasburg was recruited by the Crimson when he remained a relatively unheralded prospect coming out of high school. A quick google search provides some confirmation that the claim is true.

It is unclear how seriously Strasburg considered making the trip east, especially since both of his parents attended SDSU, but every time the 6'4", 220 pound righty pumps his fastball by a hapless fellow rookie this summer, people in a Crimson uniform will ponder the what-ifs.

(Also, for an entertaining jab at Wellesley girls, check out the third comment on the Deadspin post)

Photo: The Harvard Crimson/Jessica S. Lin