He’s their ace with a 4-1 record and 2.21 ERA. He’s been the most highly touted pitcher in baseball –– since Mark Prior –– over the past few years. He’s continued to be the team’s prized commodity as the first pick in the 2009 MLB Draft.
Due to those reasons, the Nationals want to protect his arm by implementing an innings limit for Strasburg. Skipper Davey Johnson and pitching coach Steve McCatty have discussed a 160-inning limit for the 23-year-old hurler.
For a variety of reasons, it just doesn’t seem to be the correct strategy. As much as the Nationals want to control Strasburg’s fate and preserve his arm, there’s no perfect way to prevent him from experiencing injury.
Just look at his rookie year. When the Nationals promoted Strasburg that season, they planned to employ an innings limit. Instead, the pitcher suffered a torn ligament in his elbow upon throwing a changeup to Philadelphia’s Domonic Brown in August 2010.
As a result of the elbow injury, Strasburg was forced to undergo Tommy John surgery and missed the majority of the 2011 season. While the Nationals tried their best to shield him from injury, it ultimately didn’t work.
Despite the Nationals’ guarded efforts, an innings limit won’t benefit Strasburg too much in the long run. Injuries obviously arise at the most unexpected times –– plain and simple.
On top of that, Washington is currently sitting at 26-18 and in first place in the National League East. If it maintains that momentum over the next few months, the team could be poised for a spot in the postseason.
Should the Nationals make the playoffs, they’d be without Strasburg due to the innings limit. And they’d be at an immediate disadvantage before playing a single postseason game.
So is it really worth shelving him early? Didn’t the Nationals draft Strasburg to help lead them to the postseason and an eventual World Series title? Wouldn’t it defeat the purpose of drafting Strasburg by being overly cautious?
There’s credence to being careful, but not if it stands in the way of possibly winning a title.
Have a question for Didier Morais? Send it to him via Twitter at @DidierMorais or send it here. He will pick a few questions to answer every week for his mailbag.
