Davey Johnson trivialises tightness Stephen Strasburg felt on Sunday - MLB Update
After being roughed up by the San Diego Padres, Stephen Strasburg was disheartened. A penchant to reclaim authority on the mound motivated him to spend lengthy hours in the bullpen.
To make sure his pitches achieve perfection, he made practice sessions more rigorous. Against this backdrop it was no surprise when Strasburg came on the mound on Sunday and threw a near perfect spell, he ended up struggling with tightness in his biceps
later in the game.
This immediately resulted in speculations about his time in the season and possible injury he may have sustained. As it turned out, Strasburg denied any injury and called it more an effect of trying to overdo things and suffering fatigue as a result.
Washington Nationals’ manager Davey Johnson was more vehement in stating that he is fine and all set to play upcoming games.
“[I was] wondering why he’s not in there getting heat or treatment or rubbed or having every orthopedic doctor in the country come over and look at him,” Johnson said. “But he was fine. He stayed on the bench and that’s why I quizzed him. I said ‘How are
you feeling now?’ He said ‘I feel a lot better right now.’ I’m least concerned. That’s from fatigue or overwork.”
Strasburg is a spearhead of the Nationals’ powerful arms. By the dint of consistent performances, he was awarded Pitcher of the Month status by MLB earlier.
Even during second month of the season, his performance has not declined.
Both Gio Gonzalez, another starter with the Nationals and Strasburg are among those pitchers in National League that have struck-out maximum number of batters.
Although Strasburg is not throwing greater number of innings, numerous strike-outs he can bring within a span of few innings have been a hallmark of his outings.
Clarifying nature of his pain, he stated that his elbow is perfect. Within few days as he overcomes fatigue he will be back to normalcy.
“It wasn’t my bicep,” Strasburg said. “It had nothing to do with the elbow or anything. Just normal fatigue.”
Strasburg will look to build on his performance in the last game and make sure he keeps drawing the strike-outs at the same pace throughout the season.
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