Washington Nationals players question plan to sit Stephen Strasburg

[JonLP24]

The Washington Nationals' plan to shut down starter Stephen Strasburg before the end of the season isn't sitting well with all of the young pitcher's teammates.

Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo and manager Davey Johnson have said they will sideline Strasburg, who is coming off Tommy John surgery, at some point this season. Johnson has said Strasburg could be limited to 160 innings to protect the All-Star's future.

Strasburg has thrown 133 innings so far, and Nationals players are questioning whether sitting a star pitcher should be considered while Washington heads into a pennant race.

"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, according to USA Today. "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."

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/8270168/washington-nationals-players-question-club-plan-sit-stephen-strasburg

[TZ]

1. Wow ESPN has spun this story quite dishonestly

The real Washington Post story says the Clubhouse grudgingly accepts the innings limit on Strasburg. ESPN is trying to sow discord where there really isn't any.
For actual facts on this you might want to read this:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/stephen-strasburg-shutdown-grudgingly-accepted-in-washington-nationals-clubhouse/2012/08/13/ee310fc0-e4f7-11e1-8f62-58260e3940a0_story.html

Or this the fact that the surgeon who did Strasburg's TJ endorses this plan. No one outside of DC seems to actually have read the facts. Just "OMG the Nationals are stupid!" The fans should be outraged! In fact a recent poll showed about 85% of fans are okay with the shutdown.
Also read this Boswell piece which is the BEST story on this:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/nationals/stephen-strasburg-shutdown-debate-masks-the-washington-nationals-true-story/2012/08/14/d09ea3ee-e63e-11e1-8741-940e3f6dbf48_story.html

[TZ]

2. Also this from Drew Storen..

Drew Storen talks Strasburg Shutdown with Jim Rome: "We don't like it. But we understand it."
http://www.natsenquirer.com/2012/08/drew-storen-talks-strasburg-shutdown-on-jim-rome-show-we-dont-like-it-but-we-understand-it.html

This is the general opinion in DC.

[Auggie]

3. Should the Giants face the Nationals in the playoffs,

I'll be quite happy Strasburg isn't starting. So will any other playoff team they face.

[TZ]

4. Detwiler has the worst ERA of the starters

and thats like 3.7. Gio and JZ have some very similar stats to Strasburg. In truth they really have the best and deepest staff in MLB atm.

[Auggie]

5. It's cliché to say, but anything can happen

We saw Ryan Vogelsong, owner of the lowest ERA among starters in the NL, tagged for eight earned runs Monday. Last night Zimmermann pitched well but was beaten by Madison Bumgarner, who pitched better.

But why speculate when we can see it (hopefully) play out in several weeks? I wish the Nats well (except when they play my teams). Success has been a long time coming for the region and franchise.

[TZ]

7. Hey we could lose in the first round WITH Strasburg

Like Philly last year. But having seen our 4-5-6 pitchers sweep the Giants in DC, I have faith in the staff: Someone put it aptly, if the Nats lose in playoffs it will probably be because they aren't hitting

[Kingofalldems]

6. So ESPN fake sports journalists are now MDs

and know better than Dr. Yocum.