We sent Trevor Cahill, Brett Anderson and Matt LaPorta to Beijing, expecting -- hoping? -- they returned Olympic champions and American heroes. We found out learning a lot more about the potential No. 1 overall pick in the 2009 amatuer draft, Stephen Strasburg.
He will merely be a junior at San Diego State this fall, instead of a September call-up, but he was Team USA manager Davey Johnson's choice to start Friday's medal-round matchup against No. 2 seed and gold medal favorite Cuba. Team USA was hammered 10-2, but the damage was done long after the phenom was out of the game.
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"It's a great honor for me -- obviously the biggest game of my career," Strasburg, 20, told MLB.com before getting the start. "I'm very confident. I'm just going to go out there and do what I've been doing all year. I'm not going to change in any way. If they hit me, I'll tip my cap to them."
He did get hit some, but his big-time arm was apparent. He gave up three runs in four innings, two earned, but struck out the side in his last inning before Johnson went to the bullpen.
There might be some questions why Johnson, who has a World Series title with the Mets, didn't go with a little more of a professional veteran on the grand stage. While Cahill and Anderson are only a year older, they at least have faced top competition, moving up to Double-A this year and pitching in the Futures Game. Strasburg is merely a college kid -- and no, he won't appear in CBSSports.com's Fantasy player database until he signs a pro contract after the 2009 draft.
"All the baseball players here are a lot farther down the road," he told MLB.com. "But we can all relate once we're in the dugout. It's something you never get a chance to do."
A chance Johnson gave him as a huge sign of respect. He could have started Strasburg in Wednesday's meaningless round-robin finale that only affected seeding. Instead, he went with Cahill and saved Strasburg for the elimination game against a very experienced Cuban team. Everyone in their starting lineup was hitting over .300 for the tournament.
"He's pitched a whole lot of international play this year, and I wanted to give him more rest -- it's that simple," Johnson told MLB.com. "He's had a very successful college year and then pitched for USA Baseball right to this point.
"We're not worried about his makeup."
Strasburg does have a professional connection at San Diego State, where Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn is his coach.
"I don't think the pressure of the medal round will make much difference," Gwynn told the San Diego Union-Tribune. "He has his game plan and it is about executing it. You are talking about a guy who has overpowering stuff at times, so it would be interesting to see if Cuba will be able to adjust to him."
They did, getting an RBI triple, a unearned run when Mike Hessman botched the relay and a solo homer from Cuba's best hitter. Strasburg wasn't bad, but he wasn't as great as his big arm suggests.
So it is USA-Japan for the bronze and Cuba-South Korea for the gold and silver Saturday. Team USA (5-3) lost to Cuba twice and South Korea once.
There was no Ben Sheets heroics, like the gold-medal team from 2000 in Sydney, Australia -- but boy does the hype start early on next year's likely No. 1 overall pick.
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| Player | ERA | W-L | APP | GS | SV | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HRA | BAA |
| Brandon Knight | 5.91 | 1-1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 10 2/3 | 13 | 8 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 2 | .302 |
| Trevor Cahill | 2.25 | 0-0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 0 | .214 |
| Stephen Strasburg | 0.00 | 1-1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 0 | .045 |
| Jake Arrieta | 0.00 | 1-1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 0 | .105 |
| Brian Duensing | 0.00 | 1-1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 2/3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | .056 |
| Brett Anderson | 4.76 | 0-0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 2/3 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | .346 |
| Jeremy Cummings | 1.80 | 0-0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | .167 |
| Mike Koplove | 0.00 | 0-0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 1/3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | .000 |
| Kevin Jepsen | 0.00 | 0-0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 3 2/3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | .083 |
| Jeff Stevens | 2.45 | 1-2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 2/3 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | .250 |
| Casey Weathers | 0.00 | 0-0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | .250 |
| Blaine Neal | 3.00 | 0-0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | .182 |
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| Player | AVG | OBP | SLUG | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO |
| Terry Tiffee | .393 | .406 | .607 | 28 | 4 | 11 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 3 |
| Dexter Fowler | .333 | .391 | .571 | 21 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| Louis Marson | .333 | .500 | .333 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
| Jason Donald | .313 | .476 | .375 | 16 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| Brian Barden | .296 | .345 | .519 | 27 | 6 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 7 |
| John Gall | .276 | .323 | .517 | 29 | 5 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 7 |
| Matthew Brown | .240 | .375 | .400 | 25 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 7 |
| Nate Schierholtz | .200 | .250 | .400 | 30 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 8 |
| Jayson Nix | .200 | .200 | .600 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Taylor Teagarden | .154 | .353 | .231 | 13 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 7 |
| Mike Hessman | .111 | .111 | .278 | 18 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 9 |
| Matt LaPorta | .067 | .300 | .267 | 15 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 7 |
Prospect watch
Every Thursday, we break down all the minor leaguers who are owned in at least 1 percent of our Fantasy leagues. This will be your essential guide to unearthing the elite prospects before they hit the big time.
As the minor league season -- and therefore the prospect hunt -- winds down, we present this list with merely a Y (yes) or N (no) of whether these prospects could see time in the majors before the end of the year. This many players won't be called up, and there will be many that will be that are not on this list. But, the theory behind this list all season has been these are the potential impact guys our users care about enough to own.
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| Player | TM | POS | Own% | Sept.? | Player | TM | POS | Own% | Sept.? | Player | TM | POS | Own% | Sept.? |
| David Price | TB | SP | 58 | Y | James McDonald | LAD | SP | 1 | Y | Melky Cabrera | NYY | CF | 28 | Y |
| Brandon Morrow | SEA | SP | 34 | Y | Philip Humber | MIN | SP | 1 | Y | Matt LaPorta | CLE | OF | 15 | Y |
| Micah Owings | ARI | SP | 23 | Y | Claudio Vargas | NYM | SP | 1 | N | Cameron Maybin | FLA | OF | 14 | Y |
| Dana Eveland | OAK | SP | 20 | Y | Jonathon Niese | NYM | SP | 1 | Y | Colby Rasmus | STL | OF | 7 | Y |
| Max Scherzer | ARI | SP | 18 | Y | Brett Anderson | OAK | SP | 1 | Y | Andrew McCutchen | PIT | OF | 5 | Y |
| Dontrelle Willis | DET | SP | 16 | Y | Dan L. Meyer | OAK | SP | 1 | Y | John Bowker | SF | OF | 5 | Y |
| Ian Kennedy | NYY | SP | 14 | Y | J.A. Happ | PHI | SP | 1 | Y | Felix Pie | CHC | CF | 4 | Y |
| Homer Bailey | CIN | SP | 12 | Y | Justin Germano | SD | SP | 1 | Y | Travis Buck | OAK | OF | 4 | Y |
| Tom Gorzelanny | PIT | SP | 11 | Y | Jeff Niemann | TB | SP | 1 | Y | Jonny Gomes | TB | LF | 4 | Y |
| Aaron Laffey | CLE | SP | 10 | Y | Jake McGee | TB | SP | 1 | N | Fernando Martinez | NYM | OF | 3 | Y |
| Rich Hill | CHC | SP | 9 | N | Luis Mendoza | TEX | SP | 1 | Y | Travis Snider | TOR | OF | 3 | Y |
| Garrett Olson | BAL | SP | 8 | Y | Neftali Feliz | TEX | SP | 1 | N | Jerry Owens | CHW | CF | 2 | Y |
| Kyle Davies | KC | SP | 4 | Y | Ross Detwiler | WAS | SP | 1 | N | Jacque Jones | FLA | RF | 2 | Y |
| Carlos Carrasco | PHI | SP | 4 | Y | Eddie Kunz | NYM | RP | 6 | Y | Josh Anderson | ATL | OF | 1 | Y |
| Nick Adenhart | LAA | SP | 3 | N | Taylor Tankersley | FLA | RP | 1 | Y | Jordan Schafer | ATL | OF | 1 | Y |
| Chuck James | ATL | SP | 3 | Y | Cla C. Meredith | SD | RP | 1 | Y | Jason Heyward | ATL | OF | 1 | N |
| Brian Burres | BAL | SP | 3 | Y | Brad Hennessey | SF | RP | 1 | Y | Dexter Fowler | COL | CF | 1 | Y |
| Adam Miller | CLE | SP | 3 | N | John Parrish | TOR | RP | 1 | Y | Tony K. Gwynn | MIL | CF | 1 | Y |
| Franklin Morales | COL | SP | 3 | Y | J.R. Towles | HOU | C | 8 | Y | Austin Jackson | NYY | OF | 1 | N |
| Eric Stults | LAD | SP | 3 | Y | Matt Wieters | BAL | C | 7 | Y | Matt Murton | OAK | LF | 1 | Y |
| Trevor Cahill | OAK | SP | 3 | Y | Ronny Paulino | PIT | C | 4 | Y | Jose Tabata | PIT | OF | 1 | N |
| Radhames Liz | BAL | SP | 2 | Y | Max Ramirez | TEX | C | 2 | Y | Daniel Ortmeier | SF | LF | 1 | Y |
| Jason Hirsh | COL | SP | 2 | Y | Taylor Teagarden | TEX | C | 1 | Y | Nate Schierholtz | SF | OF | 1 | Y |
| Rick Porcello | DET | SP | 2 | N | Reid Brignac | TB | SS | 2 | Y | Nelson R. Cruz | TEX | RF | 1 | Y |
| Adam Eaton | PHI | SP | 2 | Y | Brent Lillibridge | ATL | SS | 1 | Y | Christopher Marrero | WAS | OF | 1 | N |
| Wade Davis | TB | SP | 2 | Y | Chin-lung Hu | LAD | SS | 1 | Y | Matt Antonelli | SD | 2B | 2 | Y |
| Jarrod Parker | ARI | SP | 1 | N | Alcides Escobar | MIL | SS | 1 | Y | Danny Richar | CIN | 2B | 1 | Y |
| Chris Tillman | BAL | SP | 1 | Y | Brendan Ryan | STL | SS | 1 | Y | Jayson Nix | COL | 2B | 1 | Y |
| Michael Bowden | BOS | SP | 1 | Y | Elvis Andrus | TEX | SS | 1 | Y | Josh Fields | CHW | 3B | 12 | Y |
| Aaron Poreda | CHW | SP | 1 | Y | Kila Kaaihue | KC | 1B | 5 | Y | Brandon Wood | LAA | 3B | 5 | Y |
| Lance Broadway | CHW | SP | 1 | Y | Lars Anderson | BOS | 1B | 1 | N | Blake DeWitt | LAD | 3B | 5 | Y |
| Daryl Thompson | CIN | SP | 1 | Y | Ben Broussard | CHC | 1B | 1 | N | Matthew Gamel | MIL | 3B | 4 | Y |
| Jon Meloan | CLE | SP | 1 | Y | Joe Koshansky | COL | 1B | 1 | Y | Dallas McPherson | FLA | 3B | 2 | Y |
| Greg Reynolds | COL | SP | 1 | Y | Dan Johnson | TB | 1B | 1 | Y | Josh Vitters | CHC | 3B | 1 | N |
| Rick VandenHurk | FLA | SP | 1 | Y | Shelley Duncan | NYY | 1B | 1 | Y | Michael Moustakas | KC | 3B | 1 | N |
Rookie watch
Top AL rookies to date
- 3B Evan Longoria, TB -- As long as he comes back in September and the Rays win the division, he wins AL ROY.
- OF Jacoby Ellsbury, BOS -- In Fantasy, his steals trump the surprising seasons of those right below him.
- SP Armando Galarraga, DET -- How could the Rangers have been so wrong with this guy who has been so good?
- 1B Chris Davis, TEX -- Serious power will play real well at third base once Hank Blalock returns to play first.
- 2B Alexei Ramirez, CHW -- The Cuban Missile looks like a young Alfonso Soriano when he runs into one for a homer.
- Honorable mentions: SS Mike Aviles, KC; OF David Murphy, TEX; SP Joba Chamberlain, NYY; RP Brad Ziegler, OAK; SP Nick Blackburn, MIN; SP Glen Perkins, MIN; RP Justin Masterson, BOS; OF Ryan Sweeney, OAK; OF Ben Francisco, CLE; OF Matt Joyce, DET; OF Denard Span, MIN; RP Jose Arredondo, LAA; SS Jed Lowrie, BOS.
Top NL rookies to date
- C Geovany Soto, CHC -- This is a huge runaway. Rookie catchers don't hit like this, or lead teams to division titles.
- SP Jair Jurrjens, ATL -- Ignore that one bad inning in his last outing. He has had a real good season throughout and even a brighter future.
- 1B Joey Votto, CIN -- His overall numbers aren't great for a Fantasy first baseman, but he deserves more votes than his later-arriving teammate.
- OF Jay Bruce, CIN -- If you count just his good streaks -- which Fantasy leagues with reserves can do -- he is a lot higher on this list.
- 3B Ian Stewart, COL -- We called him a young Chase Utley and boy is he really showing it in the second half. Rockies have a decision to make.
- Honorable mentions: SP Jorge Campillo, ATL; SP Johnny Cueto, CIN; OF Kosuke Fukudome, CHC; OF Chase Headley, SD; SP Hiroki Kuroda, LAD; SP John Lannan, WAS; SP Clayton Kershaw, LAD; SP Chris Volstad, FLA; RP Chris Perez, STL; SP Jeff Samardzija, CHC; OF Gregor Blanco, ATL.
Newbie needs
Last week we asked for database addition requests and here are the players who were most requested and added Wednesday: 3B Pedro Alvarez, PIT; SP Pedro Beato, BAL; OF Engel Beltre, TEX; OF Brian Bogusevic, HOU; SP Daniel Cortes, KC; OF Joseph Dickerson, KC; SP Brandon Erbe, BAL; SS Todd Frazier, CIN; 1B Frederick Freeman, ATL; SP David Hernandez, BAL; SP Derek Holland, TEX; SP Jeremy Jeffress, MIL; OF Ryan Kalish, BOS; SP Matthew Latos, SD; SP Jeffrey Locke, ATL; SP Michael Main, TEX; 1B Logan Morrison, FLA; OF John Raynor, FLA; CF Ben Revere, MIN; SP Cole Rohrbough, ATL; SP Hector Rondon, CLE; 1B Justin Smoak, TEX; OF Michael Stanton, FLA; 3B Brett Wallace, STL; 2B Jemile Weeks, OAK; and 1B Nicholas Weglarz, CLE.
Earlier in the week, we added: SP Brian Matusz, BAL; SP Aaron Poreda, CHW and 1B Yonder Alonso, CIN. We still intend to add: C Buster Posey, SF; OF Juan Duran, CIN; 1B Chris Carter, OAK; SS Gordon Beckham, CHW; SS Tim Beckham, TB; and SS Wilmer Flores, NYM.
If you have more requests, pass them along. We have to be honest, though, if they are in Class A and not elite prospects, we won't be inclined to add them yet.
Brian Houston, Toronto: Who has a better long-term upside: Jay Bruce or Matt LaPorta? I can keep one for the next four years.
Emack: Bruce has more speed, so give him the edge right now. Not to mention he has proven himself in the majors already. LaPorta might have a higher ceiling in the power categories, but Bruce will hold his own there, too, especially in the Great American Bandbox.
You can e-mail us your Fantasy Baseball prospect questions to DMFantasyBaseball@cbs.com. Be sure to put Attn: Prospects in the subject field. Please include your full name, hometown and state. Be aware, due to the large volume of submissions received, we cannot guarantee personal responses to all questions.
