The circus never really left Stephen Strasburg. His Tommy John surgery last September 3 simply granted him a temporary reprieve. But when the Nationals’ star right-hander took the mound on Sunday afternoon in Hagerstown, Md. for the first time since his right elbow failed him, the hoopla returned intact: The autograph seekers; the cell-phone camera toting fans; the media horde with its endless questions.
Plopped right back into the fishbowl for his first minor-league rehab start since surgery, Strasburg was back in his element. Pitching for the low-A Hagerstown Suns – the lowest level of full-season pro baseball – he allowed one earned run in just 1 2/3 innings before a capacity crowd of over 6,000 fans at Municipal Stadium. The Greensboro Grasshoppers did manage a home run and two singles en route to a 7-5 victory. But Strasburg also struck out four of the eight batters he faced, threw 25 of his 31 pitches for strikes and his fearsome fastball reached into the upper 90s just as it did before he was injured.
“You’ve got to start somewhere. I was pretty happy with the command,” Strasburg said. “You’ve got the adrenaline going out there and you really don’t know how you’re going to feel as far as being able to throw the ball where you want to throw it. But I went out there, and once they said, ‘Play ball,’ I got that feeling back real quick.”
Strasburg had spent the first four months of this season at Washington’s spring training complex in Viera, Fla. slowly rebuilding the strength in his new right-elbow ligament. But there was little thought to tweaking his mechanics in the hopes of preventing another injury.
“I’ve thrown this way my whole life, and I’m not going to try and reinvent the wheel,” Strasburg said. “I think the biggest reason why I broke down was just because I got tired. I wasn’t necessarily prepared for 162 games, a full season. Unfortunately, I was the one that got hit with the injury bug, but I’ve learned a lot from it. I’m definitely in a lot better shape, and I think I’m on the right path to being able to throw 200-plus innings every year.”
No decision yet on where Strasburg’s next outing will be. Potomac, Harrisburg and Syracuse are all at home five days from now. It’s expected Strasburg will pitch 25 innings in the minors and another 25 in the majors with Washington, if all goes according to plan. That should set him up for a strong start in 2012.
Strasburg said he “not even going to stress about” the home run allowed to Greensboro catcher Jacob Realmuto. The Grasshoppers batters knew he wasn’t going to be using the curve ball or change-up too much and could simply sit on a fastball. So even though Strasburg was regularly in the mid-to-high 90s it was likely someone would put a charge into one of his pitches. He was just happy to be back on a mound in a game setting. But Strasburg is realistic, too. While he’s had no setbacks physically the recovery process is far from over.
“Shoot, obviously my goal is to pitch in the big leagues in September. If it happens great, if it doesn’t it’s not my call,” Strasburg said. “I think it’s a lot longer process than many people think. When you come back at a year you’re still not quite there. You’re velocity is going to be close to what it was before. The movement on your pitches is going to be close. But I think come spring training next year that’s where I should be back to normal.”
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