Strasburg is in top form
Stephen Strasburg will start Thursday night’s series opener for the Washington Nationals, and the Giants aren’t catching him at an opportune time. Strasburg’s last outing, against Colorado, was “the best I’ve seen him since I’ve been here,” said Washington outfielder Jayson Werth, who has been with the Nationals since 2011.
With his breaking pitches snapping hard to the outside corner, Strasburg humbled the Rockies with 12 strikeouts and no walks over 91 pitches in seven innings. The Giants’ scouting report surely will reflect the fact that the Rockies were 0-for-13 with nine strikeouts on pitches Strasburg threw on the outer half of the plate.
After seeing two more mainstays of the Nationals’ rotation, Max Scherzer and Gio Gonzalez, the Giants will face Tyson Ross’ younger brother, Joe, in Sunday’s series finale. Ross was one of many top prospects surrendered by the Padres during their flurry of offseason deals, going to Washington in the three-team trade that brought Wil Myers to San Diego. Utley update: General manager Bobby Evans believes the Giants are still in the running to acquire Philadelphia second baseman Chase Utley ina waiver deal. San Francisco would seem to have an advantage in the fact that Utley and his family live in Belvedere, but “he still likes it in Philadelphia — that’s part of the problem,” Evans said. “I can’t feel good about it until we hear something definite from the Phillies. No news isn’t necessarily good news.”
Utley has cleared waivers and can be dealt to any team, with the Cubs and Dodgers reportedly also interested. But he has a contractual right to reject any trade. Briefly: Tim Lincecum and Tim Hudson each threw off a mound Wednesday, but only Hudson is anywhere near returning to action. He is tentatively scheduled to get a rehabilitation start for Triple-A Sacramento on Friday ... Kyle Crick, once considered the best pitching prospect in the organization, continues to struggle at Double-A Richmond. He has a 2-4 record with 60 walks in 552⁄3 innings.