West Springfield Grad Joe Saunders Set to Pitch Against the Nats

Bryce Harper, 19, the rookie slugger for the Washington Nationals, will most likely face some tough left-handed pitchers during his career in the Major Leagues.

And among the first may be Joe Saunders, who is no stranger to baseball fans in Northern Virginia.

Saunders is a former standout pitcher at who played at Virginia Tech before he was a first-round draft pick of the Angels in 2002.

Now a left-handed starter for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Saunders is slated to take the mound against Washington at Nationals Park on Wednesday at 7:05 p.m.

"You want to go out and pitch well. You want to go out there and keep them in check," Saunders told Patch, sitting in front of his locker before Tuesday's game in which the Nats lost, 5-1, as left fielder Harper was hitless in three at bats.

Saunders said that he expects 15 to 20 family and friends to be on hand to see him pitch Wednesday, including his parents, sister, high school friends and his former West Springfield head coach Ron Tugwell.

"You want to put on a good show since they only get to see my play on TV," Saunders said of playing in front of family and friends. "You want to go out there and perform well for them. It is a matter of going out there and keeping your nerves in check."

Harper made his big league debut at Los Angeles on Saturday and played his first game in D.C. on Tuesday. Saunders said he has not got caught up in the Harper hype.

"I am kind of a guy that strays away from following that stuff because I think it only adds more stress," he said. "I just go about my business and what happens, happens."

What is it like to face hitters for the first time? "It is tough because you have not faced them at all," Saunders said. "You have never seen him swing (in person). It is kind of a cat and mouse situation where you are trying to figure each other out. You try to go out there and make pitches. You want to get ahead (on the count), you want to throw strikes and put the guy away as quickly as possible."

Harper is a left-handed hitter and has struggled against lefties in the minor leagues. There is no guarantee he will be in the lineup against Saunders on Wednesday, but eventually the rookie will have to face lefty starters if he is going to play on a regular basis.

"I am excited I am here," Harper told a crowd of reporters before Tuesday's game at Nationals Park. "Hopefully I will calm down. I love the game of baseball. I will give 110 percent."

Harper began this year in the minors at Triple-A Syracuse. Arizona pitcher Patrick Corbin, who grew up in Syracuse and made his big league debut Monday at Miami, said Tuesday that his parents attend minor league games in Syracuse and were on hand when Nats' pitcher Stephen Strasburg pitched his first game there.

Saunders has noticed that the Nationals got off to a fast start before a recent losing skid that reached five games on Tuesday night before 22,675 fans on a warm evening.

"This is a great baseball town. They have a good product on the field," Saunders said. "It is an exciting time for them."

Saunders is also off to fast start this year, with a record of 2-1 and an ERA of 0.90 in his first four starts for the D-backs. Born June 16, 1981, Saunders won 17 games for the Angels in 2008 and is 71-53 with an ERA of 4.06 in his big league career.

Saunders threw a shutout in his last start, against Miami, and also pitched in one game last year at Nationals Park but picked up the loss as he allowed four runs in six innings.

"They are a good hitting team," Saunders said of Miami. "I got ahead of a lot of guys" in the count.

He has not allowed a run in his last 13 innings, which is two shy of his career-best mark in the big leagues. Since 2008 he has won 56 games, the fourth-best mark for Major League lefties. Saunders has a career mark of 2-2 with an ERA of 2.89 in four starts against Washington.