Nats Superstar Rookie Strasburg Misses Start

At points, he’s been downright unhittable and has shown the pitch command and poise of a seasoned veteran just nine games into his major league career.  For that reason, there was considerable concern when he was scratched from his scheduled start on Tuesday with what team officials described as a ‘shoulder inflammation’.

The good news is that it doesn’t look like anything serious.  Strasburg had a good deal of ‘stiffness and discomfort’, but X-rays revealed no structural damage.  Nationals’ GM Mike Rizzo didn’t seem overly concerned:

"Given a couple days' rest and anti-inflammatories, he should be better.”

Officially, Strasburg is listed as ‘day to day’.  When asked about the timetable for his next start, Rizzo sounded a more cautious tone:

"We're still not sure where he's at.”

Rizzo also added that with such a promising young pitcher they’re not going to take any chances:

"We're going to use common sense and be cautious like we have. This is a workload that he's never seen before."

In nine starts this year, Strasburg is 5-2 with a 2.32 ERA, 75 strikeouts and 15 walks in 54 1/3 innings. He has won three straight starts.  He became an instant superstar in his major league debut, pitching the Nationals to a 5-2 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates in which he struck out 14 batters.

Miguel Batista took the start on short notice, and actually received boos from his hometown fans when the pitching change was announced.  Batista was nonplused and reacted with this witty quip:

"Imagine if you go there to see Miss Universe and you end up having Miss Iowa, you might get those kind of boos. But it's OK. They had to understand that as an organization we have to make sure the kid is fine."

Batista made the most of his opportunity, pitching five shutout innings allowing three hits, all singles. He had six strikeouts and one walk as Washington beat Atlanta 3-0.

2010-07-28

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