Washington Nationals have finalised innings limit on Stephen Strasburg - MLB Update
The Washington Nationals’ General Manager Mike Rizzo confirms plans that included innings limit on their ace Stephen Strasburg. Reasserting that Strasburg will be withdrawn somewhere down the line, he talks of the care that they have promised to give him
with regard to keeping his arms healthy over the course of years.
Before the start of the season, the speculations were doing the round that the Nationals will not ask Strasburg for throwing more innings than a certain specified number.
However, by the time the Nationals entered the break with the knowledge that Strasburg has been one of the greatest reasons behind their tremendous success in the first half, it was doubted that they will stick to the plan.
To this effect, the experts anticipated that the GM will like to see Strasburg continue throwing for as long as he can, disregarding the initial innings limit.
However, GM Rizzo has clarified the matter now, by stating that the lure of keeping their rotation impregnable in the season will not disallow them to put aside the issue of taking care of Strasburg’s body.
He elaborates that irrespective of what manager Davey Johnson and the rest of the staff feel, he will make the decision about Strasburg. He is looking upon the upcoming years when the Nationals can benefit from Strasburg’s existence in rotation, instead
of just focusing on the current season.
"When we signed Stephen I made a promise to him and to his parents that I would take care of him and that's what we are going to do," Rizzo said. "I told them we would always do what's best for him. This is a kid who has never pitched more than 123 innings
in a year. We are looking at not only competing for the playoffs this season, but also in '13, '14, '15 and beyond.”
Furthermore, Strasburg is one of those starters that are prone to severe injuries when they throw greater number of innings in a year. Therefore, finding him injured at the end of the season due to massive work-load will be a bad scenario for the Nationals.
Whatever number of innings Strasburg throws in this year, the Nationals cannot disregard his contribution even if they go on to play the later part of the season without him.
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