If this is what we can expect next season it’s going to be a long winter waiting for baseball to return again. Stephen Strasburg capped his comeback from Tommy John surgery with a 10-strikeout performance against the Florida Marlins in the season finale on Wednesday.
Strasburg pitched six shutout innings, allowing just one hit and retiring the final 13 batters he faced. He did walk his first two batters since returning to the big leagues on Sept. 6. But that hardly mattered since the Marlins struggled just to make contact. It was Strasburg’s first 10-strikeout game since his third start in the majors on June 18, 2010 against the Chicago White Sox.
In all, Strasburg threw 79 pitches, 54 of them for strikes, and 26 of his 36 four-seam fastballs were between 96 and 99 miles-per-hour. Florida put all three of its runners on base in the second inning, but a double-play grounder to first kept them off the board.
Strasburg finished his five starts back from Tommy John surgery with impressive numbers: A 1.50 ERA (four earned runs) in 24 innings. He struck out 24 batters and walked just two. The opposition managed just 15 hits, no home runs. Strasburg faced 88 batters and threw 328 pitches. There were 27 ground outs and 35 fly-ball outs.
That sets the stage for 2012 when Strasburg should serve as the team’s ace – though an innings limit will keep him to about 160 innings. The Nats have yet to decide on an exact number, according to general manager Mike Rizzo.
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