A Flash in the Pan: Face of the Franchise

On June 8th, 2010, Washington Nationals' right-hander Stephen Strasburg debuted before a raucous home crowd of 40,315 fans. The excitement surrounding the young prospect was electric; Sports Illustrated deemed the San Diego State product as being "the most hyped and closely watched pitching prospect in the history of baseball." Given his pedigree and history of collegiate success, it should come as no surprise that Strasburg did nothing but dazzle in his first major league start. Strasburg's fourteen strikeouts over seven sparkling innings seemed to be a proverbial turning of the corner for a franchise that had spent much of the 2000's as perennial cellar dwellers. However, it wasn't supposed to be this way. Five years prior to Strasburg's debut, there was another right-handed power pitcher who took Washington D.C. by storm and seemed set to become the face of the new Washington franchise.

John Patterson: the face of the new Washington franchise.

John Patterson was born in Orange, Texas, a city located just over one hundred and ten miles from Houston. It was clear early on that Patterson was destined for greatness; the tall lanky righty-hander was named a prep-All American as a senior at West Orange-Stark High School and would go on to become the first player drafted out of a high school in the 1996 amateur player draft. Selected by the Montreal Expos with the fifth overall pick in the first round, Patterson actually slipped away from the organization in a bizarre turn of events due to the fact that the contract he signed wasn't printed on official team letterhead. As a result, Patterson became a free agent and, represented by super-agent Scott Boras, he would go on to sign with the Arizona Diamondbacks for $6.075 million. While Patterson's initial run in minor league baseball didn't yield the most impressive win-loss numbers (he posted a 1-9 record with the South Bend Silver Hawks), the righty began to establish himself as a premier strikeout artist, punching out ninety-five batters in just seventy-eight innings. Armed with a mid-90s fastball, a knee-buckler of a curveball, and a sharp breaking slider, Patterson had all the tools one would need to dominate at the professional level.

As he climbed the minor league ladder, Patterson continued to strike out batters at a high rate with K/9 rates of 10.5 and 10.1 in the 1998 and 1999 seasons. By the time he was twenty-two years old, Patterson was playing for the AAA affiliate of the Diamondback's organization and looked poised to join Randy Johnson on Arizona's staff. However, Patterson's first encounters with injuries began to show as he missed the vast majority of the 2000 season. After a down 2001 season that saw the righty post some of the worst numbers of his minor league career, Patterson bounced back in 2002, going 10-5 across nineteen games (eighteen starts) for AAA Tucson. Due to his performance, Patterson was promoted to the big leagues and held his own at the game's highest level, striking out thirty-one batters in just over thirty innings. Patterson struggled to build on his brief chapter of success, however and a tough 2003 season saw him traded back to the Montreal organization that originally drafted him for lefty-reliever Randy Choate. After a 2004 season that saw Patterson take some lumps as he learned the ins-and-outs of major league baseball, Patterson finally seemed to realize his full potential in the 2005 season, a special season for Washington fans as it signaled the return of baseball to the nation's capital.

Putting together the pieces: John Patterson delivered the goods in 2005.

The following stat lines are of two Washington Nationals pitchers:

Player A: 3.16 ERA, 159.1 innings, 1.155 WHIP, 11.1 K/9, 2.9 BB/9
Player B: 3.13 ERA, 198.1 innings, 1.195 WHIP, 8.4 K/9, 2.4 BB/9

Player A was Steven Strasburg in his first full (albeit controversially shortened) season in 2012. Player B was John Patterson in his breakout 2005 season. In some ways, Patterson outperformed the much more heralded Strasburg as he spun nearly forty more innings across only three more starts (Patterson started 31 games to Strasburg's 28). While Strasburg sported a much higher strikeout ratio, Patterson was no slouch in that department as he racked up 185 strikeouts that season as well. Indeed, it seemed at the time that Washington had found a true ace to go alongside dependable (if not flashy) workhorse Livan Hernandez. On August 4th, 2005, Patterson spun the one and only shutout of his major league career, a 7-0 thirteen strikeout trouncing of the Los Angeles Dodgers that Washington Post reporter Dave Sheinin termed the "greatest pitching performance in Washington National's history." With what seemed like such a bright future ahead of him, where did it all go wrong for the lean righty out of Texas?

2006 was the beginning of the end for the talented righty from Orange, Texas.

In 2006, Patterson took his game to an even higher level as he started the season by posting a remarkable 32:5 K-to-BB ratio in his first four starts. However, it was early on in the season that the righty began to feel some pain in his right forearm and, after four more starts that saw his performance begin to slip, Patterson opted to have surgery to repair ligament and nerve damage in his forearm on July 20th. Patterson returned briefly to action in the 2007 season, but continued forearm and elbow pain sent him back to the surgeon's table. Across 33.1 innings that season, Patterson yielded thirty-nine hits while only striking out fifteen batters. In addition, he issued twenty-two walks as well. Clearly, the power and command that had been his defining traits simply weren't there anymore. Patterson attempted on last comeback in 2008 as he came to spring training hoping to rediscover the form that led him to that phenomenal 2005 season. However, with a fastball that hovered in the low-to-mid 80s, Patterson simply didn't have the stuff or ability to compete at the major league level. The National's organization released Patterson mid-way through spring training and the righty was out of baseball shortly thereafter. Speaking to reporters as he announced his retirement, Patterson said, "It's just one of those deals where you scratch your head and ask, 'What went wrong? I was taking care of myself and trying to do everything the right way. It just didn't work out for me. After time, it starts to wear on you...I'm tired of hurting. I'm tired of going through the pain and putting in the work. It's not moving forward. That's the best way I can say it to you... It's a tough decision for me. It was not a decision I wanted to make."

Before Scherzer and Strasburg, there was Patterson, the original ace of Washington. His performance during that inaugural 2005 season in Washington was a big reason that the club surprised the baseball world with an 81-81 record. As someone whose own baseball career was cut short by injury, it's easy to empathize with the righty. Though baseball is rarely looked at as a particularly violent sport, the action of throwing a baseball is without a doubt one of the most destructive acts that an individual can perform on his body. The repetitive acceleration and subsequent deceleration of a player's arm is simply an action that the human body wasn't constructed to do. At some point, all pitchers have to face the fact that their bodies simply can't handle the demands of the game. Looking back, one can only imagine could have been and it's truly a shame that we could only witness his greatness for one season.