Well this is just some piss awful news. The Washington Nationals phenom starting pitcher Stephen Strasburg is doneski for this season and possibly all of next years 2011 campaign. Cue all the assholes around baseball saying "I told ya so." Lets face it, "babying" young, promising pitching arms has been an steady topic of controversy over the last few years. Do we limit these guys pitch counts and innings? Should they start in the bullpen first? Do these players need to be shut down at some point in the season to ensure their health for years to come? While these particular questions have come off as redundant and over-killed, who is to say organizations are wrong in closely monitoring their young stud hurlers? We could spend an entire day listing some of the potential ace arms that faded throughout the years, whether it was due to natural injuries, or heavy workload at a young age. We could blame former manager Dusty Baker for burning out the arms of Mark Prior and Kerry Wood. Both of those guys were absolutely dominating the NL when they were healthy. However, those days are long gone. Wood is now a mediocre relief pitcher, and Prior is out of baseball. Now, we are in the midst of witnessing potentially the most talented arm in the history of the sport going down with the infamous torn elbow ligament. Sad day for Nationals fans. Not to mention, they don't need this.
Everyone knows there are always two sides to every story. So how do we know if the Nationals handled the Strasburg situation right or not. As a matter of fact we don't. Plain and simps. His innings limit was set prior to the start of the season, they were cautionary by placing him on the DL already once this year, and they stated that he would be shut down, no ifs, ands, or buts about it when his innings limit was reached. So, it begs the question, how is this prevented? Unfortunately it isn't. Some players are more prone to injuries then others, and thats a fact of baseball. But for Strasburg, why now? Previously, he never had an injury history, and his mechanics are said to be damn near flawless. I guess you haver to chalk it up to SHIT FUCKING HAPPENS. No one can blame Washington for walking on proverbial egg shells with their Cy Young incarnate pitcher. They invested 15 million into a guy that never through a pitch on a professional level, so of course they are going to treat him like a pristine Van Gogh.
Problem is, there are some baseball purists in the league that have other ideas. Take for example, hall of famer Nolan Ryan. Since basically taking over the Texas Rangers he has instilled a philosophy into the organization that he wants his young pitchers to start what they finish. Meaning, he wants to develop their skills at the Major League level while simultaneously strengthening their arms and getting them used to going deeper into games. Truth is I FUCKING love Ryan's old school mentality. Shit, pitchers in the old days used to throw complete games every fucking 5 days, and now I can count on my hand how many guys you can pencil in for a complete game every time they toe the rubber: Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee. THATS IT.
Bottom line is guys like Nolan Ryan are just good on the babying of pitchers these days. But when you see your multi million dollar investment go down for what looks like 2 years, you think Ryan's opening up his fat mouth now? Scariest part of it all is the surgery doesn't guarantee anything for Strasburg.
-Dbl-A
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