Washington Nationals’ players unhappy with the shutdown of Stephen Strasburg - MLB Update
As the Washington Nationals’ General Manager Mike Rizzo confirms that somewhere down the line ace Stephen Strasburg will be shutdown, the players in the team do not endorse this decision. Both Mark DeRosa and Michael Morse are of the view that withdrawing
the best pitcher from the rotation at a time when the team enters into the crucial stage of the season can be costly.
However, manager Davey Johnson and Rizzo are adamant to remove Strasburg as soon as he completes the innings-limit that has been decided. Most probably, Stephen will be taken off in the month of September.
Strasburg has proven to be one of the most consistent winners for the team in the season. The rate of the strike-outs per game and the way he restricts batters from scoring runs has made him a significant link in the success of the Nationals.
If he is allowed to throw throughout the season, he possesses all that is needed to help the team win important games ahead. However, the fact he went through Tommy John surgery before the beginning of this season has made management believe that in order
to keep him in the rotation for years to come, he needs rest.
Rizzo, despite realising the magnitude of criticism, is h**l-bent to go with the decision of imposing an innings-limit on Strasburg.
"It's not on Davey Johnson or (owner Ted) Lerner. It's on me," Rizzo said.
Meanwhile, the starting pitcher’s team-mate Mark DeRosa has used the word “devastating” to describe the extent of the damage the absence of Strasburg can wreak on the team’s performance. Without him, the decisive games ahead in the season will be tough for
the Nationals.
"You take the best pitchers off any team that has a chance to make it to the postseason and it's devastating," Mark DeRosa said. "At the same time, we knew it going in. You kind of hoped the better we played the more the decision changed to the opposite."
The Nationals currently hold top position on the National League East Division table. In order to maintain it, they need to keep the momentum going. As Strasburg misses the matches late in the season, it will be interesting to see as to what extent his absence
impacts the performance of the team.
Tags: