Every team wants the next best thing. Both the Nationals and the Mets think they’ve got it.

On Friday, the stars aligned to pit two young, dynamite starting pitchers against each other: resident phenom Stephen Strasburg of the Nationals against rising rookie Matt Harvey of the Mets.

THE SET-UP

It’s no secret that the Nats take pride in their highly-touted sensation, Stephen Strasburg. The 24-year-old has been turning heads and lighting up the prospect field since his sophomore year of college. The Nationals selected him as their first overall pick in 2009, and after a year of buzz, Strasburg lived up to the hype in his major league debut with a franchise-record, 14-strikeout performance. 

After a short-lived honeymoon phase, Strasburg underwent Tommy John surgery and slugged through a painfully long rehabilitation process. He returned to form in 2012, but a conservative Nationals staff made a controversial decision to shut Strasburg down early, preferring to preserve his young arm rather than utilize him in the playoffs.  

Strasburg went into Friday’s game with a 1-2 record, including a 6-run blemish in an outing against the Reds.

Now, the Mets think they’ve developed a weapon of their own, but Harvey’s trajectory hasn’t been nearly as glamorous. Harvey’s stuff hasn’t ever been contested. He was a seventh overall draft pick and held his own as he progressed through the ranks in the minors. Still, he had to battle claims that his control was wild and inconsistent and was promoted when veteran Met Johan Santana sustained an injury. His major league debut may not have lit up the headlines, but he did record 11 strikeouts.

Prior to his matchup against the Nationals, Harvey boasted a 3-0 record, and went at least seven innings in each of his starts. The stellar starting performance is starting to catch on around the league.

THE FACEOFF

Both are 24. Both are 6-foot-4. Harvey is supposedly five pounds heavier, but Strasburg is eight months older. He also has two more years and 35 more starts worth of experience. But neither has pitched a full season in the majors, and both have a lot yet to learn.

Harvey was tense. Ever since he earned his spot on the roster, he’s been hungering to be the best pitcher on the Mets—and then in the league. He has a seriousness, a laser-like focus, and he approached his first batter with something to prove.

Normally a fastball-slider pitcher, Harvey’s go-to pitch is a 93 mph heater that elevates in its progression toward the plate. In his first three pitches, his fastball clocked in at 96 and 99. He demonstrated pinpoint command of his breaking balls early, fooling a confident National offense. 

If Strasburg took the mound with a similar mentality, he didn’t show it. The Southern California kid looked calm, but quickly found himself in a jam. The Nationals, currently leading the league in errors, added another, and Strasburg consequently allowed two unearned runs on a wild pitch and a two-out single.

As the game progressed, Harvey proved he was no fluke. His swing-and-miss rate was astronomical and his hard power fastball was simply unhittable. His allowed only one earned run and tallied seven strikeouts in seven innings of work.

Strasburg, on the other hand, was surprisingly adequate. For any other adequate pitcher this would acceptable, but Strasburg has a reputation to uphold. He wasn’t dominant, but he by no means struggled. It was just clear that he paled in comparison to his fellow 24-year-old pitcher. Strasburg ended his night after surrendering back-to-back home runs, ultimately concluding with two earned runs and six strikeouts in six innings. 

The statistics seem pretty similar, but Harvey pitched with a gusto that Strasburg never picked up. The true distinction in their performances was how they responded to errors. After an error to lead off the game, Strasburg’s confidence buckled and he gave the Mets an early two-run lead. Harvey, however, was miraculously able to pitch out of an error that presented him with a bases-loaded, no-out nightmare. He, and the Mets, came out remarkably unscathed.

The headlines the next day declared a winner: Harvey “outpitches” and "one-ups” Strasburg.

The media is already stoking the fire for the next matchup between the two aces. The Mets and Nationals are division rivals, so there’s hope that Harvey and Strasburg will face each other again this season in what will likely be a highly-anticipated showdown.

Regardless, the two young arms have promise, and Friday night just might have been a glimpse into the future.

Reach Staff Writer Alexa Girkout here. Follow her here.