Pitcher likely to have three starts left in 2011 Nationals right-handed pitcher Stephen Strasburg already has two major league starts under his belt after returning from Tommy John surgery and likely has three more left in 2011.
Washington will give its 23-year-old ace an extra day of rest this week and start him Saturday night at Nationals Park against the Florida Marlins. A day off and a doubleheader at Philadelphia next week pushes the rotation back and lets him start at home against the Atlanta Braves next Friday. That outing again will be on five days’ rest instead of the usual four. And if the team is willing to skip someone else’s scheduled start Strasburg, could go in the season finale Sept. 28 at Florida.
Strasburg threw 201Ú3 innings in six minor league rehab starts between Aug. 7 and Sept. 1. He has added another eight innings in two starts back with Washington and hopes to be a little over 40 innings total by the time he’s done.
After that, the organization could send Strasburg back to Viera, Fla., where it conducts an annual fall instructional league for its top minor league prospects. That would let Strasburg add some rehab innings and set him up for a longer run in 2012. Remember, when right-handed pitcher Jordan Zimmermann came back last summer from Tommy John surgery, he pitched a combined 702Ú3 innings at the minor league and big league levels and still had his season halted at 1611Ú3 innings this year. It’s unlikely Strasburg will see even that many unless he gets more work. For now, he’s just happy to be past the mental worries about his arm.
It’s all done. I’d say when I first started throwing, it was kind of feeling it out and seeing what it was going to be like,” Strasburg said. “But it feels like I never had surgery. Just trying to go out there and repeat the mechanics. That’s the tough part right now, and that’s more from just having so much time off.”
