BREAKING NEWS: Stephen Strasburg has an innings limit.
Okay, so it’s not really breaking news at this point. Strasburg’s innings limit and inevitable shutdown have been the baseball equivalent in media coverage to Tim Tebow and the New York Jets.
During all the hubbub, the Washington Nationals have enjoyed a record-breaking season. They’ve won a franchise-record 82 games entering play on Tuesday, and that’s a number that will almost assuredly increase over the final 28 games of the regular season.
They’re pretty much guaranteed a playoff spot at this point—barring a Boston or Atlanta-like collapse—so the now finalized shutdown of Strasburg has generated a lot of controversy amongst fans of the team and fans of the sport in general.
While many argue that Strasburg should remain active for the postseason because of his impact on the rotation, there are an equal number of those who oppose such an opinion.
Even though Strasburg is likely the most dominant pitcher on the team, those opposers recognize the fact that both Edwin Jackson and Ross Detwiler are silently having very nice seasons.
Jackson, although he sports a pedestrian 8-9 record, has an impressive 3.53 ERA and has given the Nationals a strong 158 innings.
Detwiler has been equally as impressive. His 9-6 record is slightly more impressive than Jackson’s, as is his 3.15 ERA. He has provided a quality 140 innings, as evidenced by his 1.157 WHIP.
While each pitcher is far from the dominant Strasburg, they will both be able to provide quality innings in the postseason. With the Nationals offense now becoming somewhat of a strength, Jackson and Detwiler will be more than capable of handling the load in October.
Detwiler has been a nice surprise this season, but Jackson was brought in for this sort of thing. He was a nice piece on the 2011 St. Louis Cardinals World Series team, and the Nationals will be looking for him to provide some postseason leadership.
Even with Strasburg shutdown for this upcoming postseason, the Nationals need not worry. There’s no denying the fact that they are a better team with him in the rotation, but it’s unfair to overlook the exploits of Detwiler and Jackson, two very dependable pitchers in their own right.
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