VIERA, Fla. -- It is nearly impossible to read Stephen Strasburg's emotions.
While the ace of the Washington Nationals' pitching staff normally gives thoughtful answers in interviews, he rarely makes eye contract with reporters or shows any facial expression.
Thus, it was hard to tell if Strasburg was excited Wednesday morning when he learned from Nationals pitching coach Steve McCatty that he would start on Opening Day against the Chicago Cubs on April 5 at Wrigley Field.
Strasburg acted as if it were just another dull day in spring training. He sure didn't look like someone who had just been handed his first Opening Day start.
"Of course, I'm excited," Strasburg said evenly. "It's Opening Day. Every pitcher wants to start on Opening Day. To do it in a historic place like Wrigley Field is going to make it special. I've never been there and never even been to Chicago. I'm looking forward to it."
McCatty said Strasburg was the same way with him when he was given the news.
"The only time he ever shows any emotion is when he gives up a hit and gets back to the dugout," McCatty said with a smile. "I'm the guy he takes it out on. I'm the guy who's got to deal with it."
Strasburg developed the reputation of being a perfectionist long before the Nationals selected him with first overall pick of the 2009 first-year player draft from San Diego State. The 23-year-old has done nothing to change that.
"He believes he should never give up a home run or even a hit," McCatty said. "Baseball is a game built on failure where the best hitters fail seven out of every time. If the idea is to throw a no-hitter every time out, then a lot of dreams get ruined right after the national anthem. Stephen believes he should never give up a hit, though. That's the type of competitor he is."
Of course, few pitchers have ever come into the major leagues with greater expectations, especially after the Nationals signed him to a four-year, $15.1 million major league contract, which remains the largest deal ever given to a draftee.
When Strasburg debuted in the major leagues a year later, the days in which he pitched at Nationals Park were dubbed "Strasmas" in Washington. It's the type of the stuff that could get into most young pitchers' heads.
"He's never going to live up to the expectations to what the media has of him," McCatty said. "It's just not going to happen. He's human and he's not going to get everybody out and win every game. He has to learn to accept that and not care about what other people think of him as a pitcher and how he performs."
Strasburg insists he has already learned how to filter all the great expectations.
"Nobody has higher expectations of me than I do of myself," Strasburg said. "Nobody can have higher expectations, so nobody can ever be more disappointed than I am."
That has certainly helped Strasburg insulate himself from the outside world and the expectations that have only grown since he made his major league debut on June 8, 2010 by striking out 14 Pittsburgh Pirates in seven innings.
Strasburg went on to go 5-3 with a 2.91 ERA and 92 strikeouts in 68 innings in 12 starts before tearing an elbow ligament on Aug. 21 and undergoing season-ending Tommy John reconstructive surgery. Strasburg returned to the major leagues last September, and it was as if he never left. He went 1-1 with a 1.50 ERA in five starts, striking out 24 in 24 innings.
Yet Strasburg wasn't such a clear-cut choice to be the Nationals' Opening Day starter.
They made two major offseason pitching acquisitions, trading with Oakland for left-hander Gio Gonzalzez and signing right-hander Edwin Jackson as a free agent after he helped St. Louis win the World Series last October. Furthermore, left-hander John Lannan is the senior member of the rotation.
Strasburg, though, solidified his case Tuesday night when he pitched five strong innings against the New York Mets, allowing one run and two hits with three strikeouts and one walk in a Grapefruit League exhibition game at Port St. Lucie, Fla. Until then, Strasburg had given up eight runs in 9 1/3 innings in his first three spring starts.
"This is a new experience for him, going through spring training knowing that he's going to be on the club, and he was amped until (Tuesday night)," Nationals manager Davey Johnson said. "He started using his brain a little more instead of trying to overpower everybody. I was really happy with that."
McCatty, too, knew that Strasburg had elevated himself to Opening Day starter status.
"I've always believed you put your No. 1 guy out on the mound on Opening Day, regardless of the circumstances," McCatty said. "Stephen is our No. 1 guy. We have a very talented pitching staff, but nobody gives us a better chance to win than Stephen Strasburg."
