Washington Nationals’ Stephen Strasburg will possibly be shut down in September - MLB Update
The Washington Nationals’ General Manager Mike Rizzo has unambiguously clarified that their ace Stephen Strasburg will be withdrawn and that his innings-limit remains a part of the plan.
Just the way another starter with the team namely Jordan Zimmermann was imposed an innings limit following the Tommy John surgery by him, the GM aims to give Strasburg the same treatment.
By the time Zimmermann went through surgery, the season that he played after did not see him throwing pitches throughout the year. Instead, the Nationals’ management in an attempt to accord special care to his shoulder, made him throw a fewer number of innings
than they will like.
Their plan was to keep Zimmermann healthy for the next season so that the true benefits of the credentials that he possessed as a hurler could be enjoyed.
The strategy works as is evident from the fact that Zimmermann is bringing wins for the team on a regular basis so far in the season.
Even Zimmermann has himself acknowledged earlier that the innings-limit last year helped him maintain his shoulder in a perfect condition and that it is for the same reason he is being so effective in the on-going season.
Drawing inspiration from the example of Zimmermann, the Nationals are ready to shutdown Strasburg, who also underwent Tommy John surgery before coming to this season. The most likely time to do this is going to be somewhere within the month of September.
The GM has explained that Stephen will not be throwing more than 180 innings, as per the reports.
"We feel that we do know this is going to work," Rizzo said. "We've done research. We feel like there's evidence. We're not saying we're smarter than anyone else. But we're going to do it the way I want to because I'm in charge. That's the answer I have
to all the critics and all the ex-players. They're welcome to it. They're very astute. But the majority didn't make their bones in player development."
Regardless of the criticism, Rizzo believes he is better aware of the process of player’s development and what it takes to be achieving desired results for this.
Meanwhile, the speculations about how many innings Strasburg will throw are going to continue until he is shut down officially.
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