I’ve watched highlights of Stephen Strasburg’s Sunday rehab outing about ten times now and have yet to see him throw a pitch.

Strasburg made his second rehab start with Single-A Fredericksburg over the weekend, as he continued to work his way back to the Washington Nationals from last July’s Thoracic outlet syndrome surgery. Although he dazzled with five no-hit innings, Strasburg is a footnote in the highlight video making its rounds on social media thanks to play-by-play voice Joey Zanaboni.

Zanaboni, who has repeatedly gone viral in recent years, was on the call for the Fredericksburg Nationals and he was hyped to have Strasburg on the mound. All announcers have catchphrases and crutch words they rely on to navigate their way through a game broadcast, but Zanaboni’s are on a different level of uniqueness.

At various points on Sunday, Strasburg was “Ghostin ’em like an OKCupid Halloween party,” according to Zanaboni.

“John Stamos, FULL HOUSE get ’em out of there baby! Stephen Strasburg, ask for his credit card info in a spam email message. Let’s go phishin, with a PH!”

And my personal favorite came when Zanaboni described a Strasburg hook as “freezin ’em like pay raises at a poorly run cryogenics laboratory.”

A weirdly specific analogy in a sport where unique metaphors don’t usually venture much past “can of corn.” Zanaboni is taking minor league baseball by storm, and hopefully, he’ll get called up to the majors one day. He’ll almost certainly receive some pushback from the old guard, but the fun that Zanaboni brings to a broadcast is deserving of Major League attention.

About Brandon Contes

Brandon Contes is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. He previously helped carve the sports vertical for Mediaite and spent more than three years with Barrett Sports Media. Send tips/comments/complaints to bcontes@thecomeback.com