October 15th, 2012 at 5:24 am 
by Ron Cervenka On Sunday evening, Stephen Strasburg and the rest of the Washington Nationals sat on their couches at home watching the first game of the 2012 NLCS on TV while the St. Louis Cardinals were playing in it.
Just as the Texas Rangers had done in game-6 of the 2011 World Series, the Nationals watched their playoff hopes go up in smoke last Friday when they were one strike away from winning the divisional series but instead blew an early 6-0 and subsequent 7-5 lead in the top of the 9th inning of the fifth and deciding game of the 2012 NLDS; and they did it in front of their home crowd at Nationals Park in Washington DC – ONE STRIKE AWAY.
But did the Nationals lose the NLDS on Friday afternoon, October 12, 2012, or did they lose it exactly one month earlier on September 12 when they officially shut down their premiere starter, former number one draft pick Stephen Strasburg out of fear that they may overuse his surgically repaired right arm?
Stephen Strasburg (left) sits on the bench instead of starting what would have been his final start of the season on September 12, 2012. Exactly one month to the day later, the Nationals were eliminated from the playoffs after blowing an early 6-0 lead. (Photo credit – Ray Stubblebine)
“I stand by my decision, and we’ll take the criticism as it comes,” said Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo after Friday’s bitter loss. “But we have to do what’s best for the Washington Nationals, and we think we did.”
Yes, Mike, you will take the criticism as it comes, and it is coming hard and fast. You are now living with exactly what everyone in the world thought might happen if you shut Strasburg down, if even in the very back of their minds. You must now live with the ultimate “what if” question ever posed in this sport – “What if shutting down Strasburg costs you a World Championship?”
And what did Nationals manager Davey Johnson have to say about his team yanking defeat from the jaws of victory? “We proved our worth and we just need to let this be a lesson and… learn from it, have more resolve, come back and carry it a lot farther.” If that isn’t the company line, nothing is. But then what the heck else is Johnson going to say? He is certainly not going to tell Mike Rizzo “Mike, you’re killing me. You’re taking us out of the playoffs with this decision. What if shutting down Strasburg costs us a World Championship?” even though this is probably exactly what Johnson was thinking.
But I’ll give Davey the benefit of the doubt and I’ll buy his company line, even though it never would have been said had Strasburg been in the Nationals NLDS starting rotation. And then, of course, there’s the fact that Davey Johnson’s contract just expired, so naturally he’s going to tow the company line (although I can’t imagine that Rizzo won’t bring Johnson back next year).
I certainly understand not wanting to risk the future of your franchise’s premier starting pitcher, but you know what? Baseball is full of risks – it comes with the territory. And while shutting Strasburg down might extend his career, it also might not. What if he blows his arm out on Opening Day 2013? Or in May? Or June? Or whenever? There are no guarantees in this game – injuries happen all the time. The bottom line here is that trips to the World Series just don’t come around very often – just asked the Chicago Cubs or (uggh!) the Dodgers.
After only three seasons (one of which was spent on the DL), Nationals superstar pitcher Stephen Strasburg boasts a 21-10 record and 2.94 ERA. (Photo credit – Doug Benc)
“Fifty percent of all starting pitchers will go on the DL every year, as well as 34 percent of all relievers,” Dodgers director of medical research Stan Conte recently told Sports Illustrated’s Tom Verducci.
And then there’s this guy named Tommy John. What does he think about all of this?
“I think it’s wrong, but that is my opinion. They could shut (Strasburg) down all year for all I care (because injuries can happen at any time). Maybe Mike Rizzo should go to the Atlanta Braves school of shutting pitchers down, because they have the guy (Kris) Medlen. He is going to be able to pitch because they have the foresight to pitch him out of the bullpen during the first couple of months of the season. Now they have him for the rest of the year. They worked their plan better than Rizzo and (Strasburg’s agent) Scott Boras worked their plan.”
So what about you? What do (did) you think about the Nationals shutting Strasburg down on the brink of possibly going to their first World Series ever as the Washington Nationals? Something that will now have to wait at least one more year… or longer.
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I always say do what is right in the best interest of the player and the future. However, TJ is so correct. I have mentioned before that I did not understand why Stasburg’s innings weren’t limited earlier in the season. Perhaps they thought they would not make it to the post season without him going every fifth day. If that was the case, go out and acquire another pitcher to help limit his innings.
My vote. Poorly played. Mistake.
“If that was the case, go out and acquire another pitcher to help limit his innings.”
The Nationals did exactly that, Bluenose – they signed Edwin Jackson to an $11 million contract to pick up some of Strasburg’s innings, but Jackson failed miserably. This makes Rizzo’s decision to shut Strasburg down even more questionable.
This from The Washington Post:
There are valid arguments on both sides of this issue but one thing is for certain, it is going to be debated for many years to come – especially if the Nationals fail to make it to the World Series any time soon (or if Strasburg re-injures his arm again any time soon).
Jackson gave them .500 and that’s what he always was. His lifetime ERA is 4.40. The dumb ass who listened to Boras really failed.
Jackson did throw 189 innings, 10 less than team leader Gonzalez, so he did use up innings,just didn’t win, which is why they paid $11M.
I’m not going to criticize the Nationals on this one. We don’t have the medical records. We don’t know the details of his injury and the recovery related synopsis. They do and they made a decision based on what the medical experts are saying. They are looking long term.
Throwing a baseball overhand is as un-natural a motion that there is. Until the experts start following the Mike Marshall mechanics of the pitching motion, we should expect pitchers to continually be going under the knife. Marshall will never be taken seriously because he’s alienated 99% of the baseball establishment with his outspoken nature.
He threw 159.1 innings, All I am saying is that, in my opinion, the team handled the innings poorly. I agree they must protect their player.
I’m sure that you detected my opinion on this hot bed item in my post, Evan. Like Bluenose, I believe that the Nationals handled this situation entirely wrong.
Although I couldn’t find the exact written quote, I vividly recall hearing on MLB on XM that Tommy John also said that even after a pitcher had his namesake surgery, that pitcher is no more likely or any less likely to re-injure their arm again and that the amount of innings pitched has nothing to do with it.
MLB on XM also reported that Tommy Lasorda said that if Strasburg had been on one of his teams, he’d pitch whenever he was needed and would not have been shut down unless he was actually injured.
It has been well documented that the Nationals had planned to limit Strasburg’s innings way back at spring training in February. Knowing this, Rizzo absolutely screwed the pooch by not doing what the Braves did with Kris Medlen.
In my opinion, you can tag the Nationals failure to advance to the NLCS (and possibly the World Series) squarely on Mike Rizzo’s shoulders.
Well it definitely was not the right call. As a Dodger fan, I think it made a big difference, it could be the reason why the Cardinals are in the NLCS. Whether the Nats could’ve won the NLDS, with Strasburg we’ll never know but things did turn out badly without him.
As for me it would’ve been a lot easier to root for the Nats in the NLCS than the Cards, who already have a geat N.L. postseason record.
If they knew ahead of time what that limit would be then they should have spaced him out more or even sent him to the DL once or twice for a little R&R. IMO, they hurt the game of baseball a little, when they allowed the player to become bigger then the game itself.