Davey Johnson meets Stephen Strasburg to elaborate shut-down decision - MLB Update
Just to let the ace Stephen Strasburg to know the reasons behind the decision of shutting him down for the rest of the season, the Washington Nationals’ manager Davey Johnson had a meeting with him.
Knowing that Stephen may perceive the move as uncalled for and may get offended as a result; Johnson has considered it necessary to explain him the background and the factors that led the management to shut him down at such a juncture of the season.
Ever since the declaration has been made, fierce criticism has emerged from various quarters that call into question the logic behind the move and point out that the shut-down decision can result into the undoing of the whole team.
The Nationals at the moment are perfectly poised for achieving glory this year. Currently leading the National League East Division, their success owes immensely to the quality starts that Strasburg has provided to the team.
Whenever the Nationals were in trouble, Stephen came to the rescue and broke the losing streaks of the team. As a result, he supplied the club with some much needed momentum which the Nationals then used to keep their success afloat throughout the season.
Therefore playing the rest of the season without Strasburg now will impose various challenges on the club.
To see the Nationals declining down the line and squandering an ideal opportunity to embrace glory this year will not be surprising in the absence of Strasburg.
Regardless of the impact the decision can wreak on the performance of the club, Washington’s management is h**l-bent to stick to their plan and withdraw Strasburg after getting him throw his last start against the New York Mets on September 12.
Meanwhile, Johnson lauds the competitive instincts that Strasburg boasts and realises that he will be unhappy for getting shut-down.
"It's no secret that Stras is an intense competitor, that he wants to be here, wants to be contributing, wants to be helping and I'm sure it's probably eating him up more than anybody involved in this whole thing because he wants to be here and helping his
teammates. He's worked harder than anybody coming back from that surgery, and this what you dream about being a part of. I know how he feels," Johnson said.
The next couple of weeks are going to be dominated by the talks about shut-down and it will be interesting to see as to how the team officials respond to the emerging criticism.
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