Analgesic ointment costs Stephen Strasburg as he struggles on the mound - MLB Update
What was considered source of ameliorating flow of the arms became a curse for Stephen Strasburg. He held the mound at the back of an excellent outing the other day and he was high on confidence. However he hardly knew that he is going to come across his
worst outing of the season.
As per manager Davey Johnson, the ointment known as Hot Stuff that Strasburg had used on his body wreaked an unintended effect. Instead of getting support from his arms, as was desired from the treatment, he was being betrayed by them.
That led to repetition in his throws and since hitters were clever enough to fathom his condition, they latched on and fetched couple of runs on his pitches.
Low on control, he was being predictable. Due to a fear of giving away too many walks, he delimited his pitching options and tried to hit the strike-zone more often.
A perfect piece of cake which his performance in the season resembled has taken a dent. A pitcher who just few days ago was getting strike-outs on will and was making batters toil for hits was just clueless.
Even if primary reason behind his poor performance was the ointment, his confidence will be low. That can result in concoctions of illogical analogies by him on his mind and thus his inability to come out of this horrible outing.
Talking about his time on the mound, Strasburg admitted hardness he faced and how helpless he was made to feel at-times.
“Yeah, it was just tough conditions all around,” Strasburg said. “But I’m not one to make excuses. It’s just one of those games where you go out there and do your best to overcome the obstacles.”
Manager Johnson unveiled the story, which Strasburg will not perhaps like to talk about. He said that the stuff he had employed on his body trickled down in those areas, which will hamper flow of his throws.
“I can’t really tell you what the problem was, but some Hot Stuff got misplaced,” Johnson said. “It was on his shoulder and evidently – I don’t know how it got to where it got, but it was uncomfortable, to say the least.”
Strasburg will now prepare for his next start and will wish to restore his top-notch form in the season as soon as possible.
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