Righty will face Cubs on April 5 at Wrigley
Viera, Fla. — Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg took the mound in Miami last Sept. 28, the final game of the 2011 season, and left an image that lingered well into the winter.
He erased all the tribulation of the previous year, the byproduct of a ruptured elbow ligament, with a brilliant six inning, no-run, 10-strikeout performance that left Strasburg, his teammates and the entire Nats organization eager to see what a full season of health could bring. On Wednesday, Washington manager Davey Johnson named Strasburg, 23, his Opening Day starter against the Chicago Cubs on April 5 at historic Wrigley Field.
“It’s a tremendous honor, but there’s still a lot of work to be done,” Strasburg said. “And it’s just one game. Hopefully the games will be mattering a lot more at the end of the year for us.”
That will depend in part on how much the Nats get from their ace. Still only 18 months removed from Tommy John surgery, Strasburg will be on an innings limit of about 160. At some point his season will come to an early end — whether Washington is in the playoff hunt or not.
But there will be no juggling outings in a vain attempt to extend his season. Johnson insists he wants to put his best foot forward from the start — a not-so-subtle message to Strasburg and his own clubhouse. But given that innings limit, why make the decision to pitch his ace right away?
“My experience and my baseball instincts,” Johnson said. “It was easy. Very easy. It has nothing to do with favoritism. It was just ‘Who’s my Opening Day starter.’?”
So expect a media circus at Wrigley Field. But Strasburg is used to that by now. A known commodity by age 20 at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, he endured a year of scrutiny as a junior at San Diego State even before his selection as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2009 draft. Every minor league start in 2010 drew thousands of curious fans and his electrifying 14-strikeout debut at Nationals Park on June 8, 2010, remains one of the great moments in Washington sports history. That attention is a constant presence.
“There’s nobody that hates that more than him,” teammate Ryan Zimmerman said. “But he handles it and he deals with it fine. He’s just such a quiet, humble guy that he doesn’t care if anyone’s watching. He doesn’t want any accolades for working hard.”
But there are times when Strasburg can be too hard on himself. On Tuesday night in a 2-0 loss to the New York Mets, he allowed only a solo home run and was visibly upset on the mound. Johnson jokes that talking to Strasburg on the day he pitches is like chatting with a brick wall. Nats pitching coach Steve McCatty sometimes waits until the next day to get his major points across. Strasburg is slowly learning to curb that passion until necessary.
“[Strasburg] wants to do well every time out. There’s nothing wrong with getting a little fiery,” reliever Tyler Clippard said. “I’ve seen him like that even over base hits. So that’s a good thing. I don’t think that’s ultimately going to be a negative. He expects perfection out of himself. But I think he’s human enough to realize that he’s not going to have it.”
But it’s not always easy to back off in spring training, where slowly building arm strength and rhythm takes precedence over minor mistakes. For Strasburg, overflowing with talent, but still learning the game, it’s another lesson in a sport that never stops dispensing them.
“I know that in the past when there’s sellout crowds, there’s the expectations, I definitely feel like my game goes into another gear,” Strasburg said. “That’s something that’s hard to really simulate in spring training because everybody’s just trying to get their work in. In a regular-season game it’s go out there and compete. It’s you versus him.”
