Stephen Strasburg wrote via Twitter on Sunday night that he was beginning to pack his things after a long, arduous rehabilitation stint in Viera, Fla. For the most part stuck in extended spring training since the rest of his teammates headed north to begin the regular season in late March, Strasburg, who had Tommy John surgery last Sept. 3, has a much better idea about his immediate future.
Nationals manager Davey Johnson said on Monday that Strasburg was likely to make a rehab start in an honest-to-goodness minor-league game sometime in the next seven-to-10 days. The club is apparently still deliberating when and where – though Johnson guessed low-A Hagerstown was the most likely location for a first stop.
Strasburg could also pitch at high-A Potomac, located in nearby Woodbridge, Va., or Double-A Harrisburg, just over two hours north of the District. The goal would be to have Strasburg ready to pitch in the majors when fellow starter Jordan Zimmermann is shut down for good. Zimmermann himself is just over two years removed from Tommy John surgery to repair a torn elbow ligament and the organization doesn’t want to push him much past 160 innings. He’s sitting at 132 2/3 right now, which would leave about five more starts in his 2011 season.
Strasburg has been gradually rebuilding his arm strength in Viera and progressed recently to throwing simulated games. He pitches a normal inning against a live batter with the coaches determining outs. After his half inning Strasburg rests in the dugout as he would if he had teammates batting in the home half of an inning and then resumes pitching after around 10 minutes. Expect one more of those and then a minor-league start.
Zimmermann made 10 rehab starts in the minors last summer at four different levels for a total of 39 2/3 innings. Presumably, Strasburg would need about 40 innings, give or take, before the Nats deem him ready to return to the majors. Johnson said the team would like to get Strasburg pitching on the same day as Zimmermann to put him on track to step in without disrupting the rotation.
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