Kuzul

by Brett Lay

The Washington Nationals announced in a conference call this morning that phenom rookie pitcher Stephen Strasburg’s mutant right arm has lost its powers due to recent sunspot activity.

Nationals GM Mike Rizzo said Strasburg realized there was a problem when he could no longer summon the powers of a Norse god of thunder to fling baseballs at his normal average speed of several hundred miles an hour in a recent practice.

“As anyone who has had mutant powers granted to them and then taken away by a freak act of nature can tell you, it’s a traumatic experience. Just ask Cyclops or Wolverine,” Rizzo told reporters. “But he is fully committed to doing whatever he has to do to rehab and get back out there, because lord knows, we need him,” Rizzo continued between slow sobs at the mic. “Who knew that his weakness was random bursts of electromagnetic energy? We just assumed it would be drugs and alcohol, like the other red-blooded ball players we have on this team.”

Strasburg has been a rare ray of hope for these Nationals, who have spent the last several seasons perfecting their record of complete futility. The loss of Strasburg will be a big shock not only to this city, but also to his fellow players.

Truly morale was low in DC, as we asked some of the residents to throw in their two cents’ worth.

• “Yeah, Strasburg was awesome. Not sure what we’re going to do now.” – Greg, street vendor
• “If you ask me, I saw it coming. I can’t tell you how often the genetically enhanced mutant protectors of our national pastime come through here, raising hopes, but then fizzle out before any substance can be provided.” – Mara, food services
• “We have a baseball team? I didn’t know that. Give me your wallet.” – Stitches, unemployed

“We were just getting in the swing of things, too,” Ryan Zimmerman, the Nationals third baseman, stated to the swarm of reporters. “Ivan was just starting to learn how to block the plate like a real catcher, the janitor they brought in who was competing for the first base spot with Dunn had just barely gotten edged out, and we had just learned how to pronounce Nyjer’s name. I even thought we might win a game this year. What a rip.”

The Washington Post reported Strasburg will get a second opinion from Verðandi, a norn that once treated Thor himself when he had to have Tommy John surgery in 652 B.C.

“I’m no quitter, that’s for sure,” said Strasburg as he was loading Pegasus for the long trip to Valhalla for his evaluation. “Now that I’m temporarily a normal human, sort of like that dude in Superman 2, I have to be careful. It seems I can no longer smash through walls or melt things with my heat vision. But I’m not giving up on this season that easily, no sir, I’ll be back.”

At that point he mounted his steed and swiftly flew from sight into the sunset.

We can only hope, for the Nationals’ sake, that he gets his powers back.

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Let’s not anoint Stephen Strasburg the next Mark Prior yet. There’s no need.

After the revelation that Strasburg needs Tommy John surgery, people are ready to compare him to busts just as quickly as they heaped praise upon him. When you are a pitcher of his magnitude, that is what happens.

Strasburg came into the major leagues with great fanfare. We all know that. Of course, when you have all this hype, you have the burden of living up to it. And for a short time this summer, he did.

Minus just one shaky outing, Strasburg pitched like an ace.

But now this.

Quite possibly the three most-dreaded words in baseball: Tommy John surgery. It’s like telling a singer they’re getting their vocal chords restructured.

But now that everyone’s had a few days to let this news settle in, a realization must be reached—it’s not the end of the world for Strasburg and the Nationals. Yet. We won’t really know for sure for at least a year.

As someone who’s been around both Syracuse and Washington when Strasburg was in town, I can attest that the media treats him like he’s the most important news in town. If he skipped a breath, it could make the front page of the paper.

So he will be closely followed; that’s an understatement.

But one thing that people aren’t thinking about is the fact that after all of this Strasburg hype, we won’t get to see him pitch for a year. That’s a long time.

Let’s think about Strasburg the person. He can’t do his job for one year. A year is a long time. Sure, a year from now, we’ll be looking back and thinking it went by quick. But it is 364 days. And he could be out for longer.

Luckily for the Nationals, they have another kid to put their spotlight and focus their marketing campaigns on—Bryce Harper. All 17 years of him.

You think Strasburg received a lot of hype? Harper was on the cover of Sports Illustrated long before Strasburg was declared a “national treasure.”

For the sake of baseball and the Nats, let’s hope that Strasburg stays a national treasure and doesn’t become buried treasure.

Because he is quite a talent. We know that. And hopefully, soon enough, he’ll have an arm that can completely support that talent.

If not, I heard that Prior is working to make it back to the majors. 

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When news broke last week that Nationals phenom Steven Strasburg needed Tommy John surgery and likely won’t throw a pitch in the Major Leagues until 2012, the mood around D.C. was predictably apocalyptic.

For a team that hasn’t finished better than .500 since their 2005 move to Washington, losing their crown jewel in Strasburg seemed like an unusually cruel blow to Nats fans. All hope is not lost however.

As a fan of all things Philadelphia, I know all about always expecting the worst from your favorite teams, but after more than 30 years of experimentation, Tommy John Surgery boasts a success rate of more than 80%, and at just 22 years of age, Strasburg’s odds of recovery are even better. 

In fact, as a present to Nats fans everywhere, here are ten players that not only returned from Tommy John surgery, but thrived because of it.

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It’s time to continue our journey around the league, looking at each team’s closer situation.  

The AL Central is home to one of the most fluid closing situations and also one of the most stable options in the league.  Let’s take a look at their updated situation, as well as the other three teams in the division:

Chicago White Sox

Closer: Bobby Jenks
Waiting in the Wings: Sergio Santos
Closer of the Future: Matt Thornton

The White Sox closer situation has been in flux all year long, with questions surrounding Jenks’ ability floating around. 

He is currently sporting a 4.40 ERA and 1.38 WHIP, though injuries to J.J. Putz and Thornton have basically removed all the potential competition, temporarily.

Thornton has 5 saves this season, to go with a 2.66 ERA and 1.10 WHIP, not to mention 64 K over 47.1 innings.

He seems like a lock to move into the role for 2011, with Jenks likely heading out of town (he is not signed for next year). 

If you are in a keeper league and Thornton is still sitting on the waiver wire, he’s certainly worth stashing immediately.

Cleveland Indians

Closer: Chris Perez
Waiting in the Wings: Rafael Perez
Closer of the Future: Chris Perez

When the Indians traded Kerry Wood to the Yankees at the Trade Deadline, they opened the door for Chris Perez to finally assume full-time closing duties.

He had been acting as the closer at times this season, saving 16 games thus far with a 2.06 ERA and 1.15 WHIP. 

Perez was acquired last year from the Cardinals in the deal that sent Mark DeRosa to St. Louis and at the time, he was instantly dubbed the team’s closer of the future. 

At this point, there appears to be little reason to discuss any other option.  He should hold the job for the long haul.

Detroit Tigers

Closer: Jose Valverde
Waiting in the Wings: Phil Coke
Closer of the Future: Daniel Schlereth

It was long thought that Joel Zumaya would eventually assume closer duties, but one injury after another has completely killed his potential.  For now, however, Jose Valverde has a firm hold on the job. 

Signed in January, he scored a two-year deal with an option for 2012.  Overall he has been great (2.83 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 24 saves), but things certainly haven’t been good since the All-Star Break. 

He’s carrying a 7.80 ERA, having walked 13 batters in 15 innings. 

Yes, it is troubling, but the Tigers don’t really have anywhere else to turn.  Schlereth has the stuff to be a closer in the future, with 60 Ks in 49.1 innings at Triple-A, but he needs to get his control in order (in that same span, he walked 34 batters). 

In 9 Major League innings, he’s walked four.  That’s just not going to cut it.

Kansas City Royals
Closer: Joakim Soria
Waiting in the Wings: Blake Wood
Closer of the Future: Joakim Soria

We can discuss the trade rumors as much as we want, but the fact is that the Royals have one of the elite closers in the game at an extremely discounted rate.  According to Cot’s Baseball Contracts he is signed for 2011 at $4 million, then the team has options for the subsequent three seasons ($6 million, $8 million and $8.75 million).  He already has 125 saves with a 2.04 ERA and 1.00 WHIP.  I know having an elite closer on a bad team is a luxury, but with the contract they have him under, can you say that the team will, without a doubt, not be competing by 2014?  Unless they are absolutely blown away, there really is no reason for the team to move him.

Minnesota Twins

Closer: Matt Capps
Waiting in the Wings: Jon Rauch/Brian Fuentes
Closer of the Future: Anthony Slama

The Twins are just accumulating late inning options, aren’t they?  First they developed Rauch.  Then, they acquired Capps in a Trade Deadline deal.  Now, they are awarded Fuentes off waivers. 

The fact is, Capps should hold down the job, unless the wheels fall off, with Rauch and Fuentes forming a dynamic righty/lefty combo to bridge from the starter to Capps (and get the occasional save). 

It’s certainly a nice situation to have, especially for a team with questionable late-inning relief early in the season. 

As for moving forward, that’s the million-dollar question.  Joe Nathan should be ready for 2011, and you would think would ultimately return to the closer’s role once ready.  However, he’ll be 36 years old and not a long-term solution.

While the Twins continue not giving Slama a real look, he just continues to thrive at Triple-A. 

The 26-year old has a 2.23 ERA and 71 Ks in 40.2 innings, yet has gotten just 4.2 innings of Major League experience this season.  Sooner or later, they will be forced to see what he can do.

What are your thoughts on these situations?

Make sure to check out our look at the other divisions in baseball:

• NL East
• AL East
• AL West

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I’m back after two exciting weeks in and around Dumaguete City in the Philippines.  An awful lot has happened since I was away: Lou Piniella’s decision to retire sooner rather than later, Roger Clemens getting indicted, the Giants’ vaunted starters posting the worst ERA of any starting rotation in the National League so far in August.

One thing that especially surprised me, however, was the fact Bryce Harper signed for only $9.9 million when Steven Strasburg got $15.1 million from the same team last year.  I had expected Harper to get right around what Strasburg got.

Now that Strasburg has blown out his elbow tendon and will miss at least a full year to rehab his arm after Tommy John surgery, it’s easy to say that Strasburg got too much or that Harper got too little.  However, you could have come to the same conclusion before Strasburg’s injury simply by looking at recent draft results for college pitchers and high school position players selected with the first pick of the draft.

The reasons that Strasburg got more money probably have to do with past signing amounts and the fact that top college pitchers are the amateur players closest to the major leagues in terms of ability at the time they are signed.  Before Strasburg’s big payday, the record first contract was Mark Prior’s $10.5 million deal back in 2001.

The prior high for a position player was given to then college first baseman Mark Teixeira, who got a four-year, $9.5 million deal also in 2001.

Strasburg got more than Prior, and Harper got more than Teixeira.  Also, Harper had less leverage than a player his age usually has because had he not signed, he would have had to return to junior college, the same level he played at last year, and where it would be extremely difficult for him to improve significantly in the eyes of major league organizations from his 2010 performance. 

Most 18-year-old high school draft picks can threaten to go to a top four-year college program, where they will play at a much higher level, comparable to full-season Class A or A+ ball.

However, none of it really makes any sense.  I mean, whose career would you rather have right now: Mark Prior’s or Mark Teixeira’s?  And it’s not just these two players.

Here’s a list of all the high school position players taken with the first pick of the draft since 1987 when Ken Griffey, Jr. was selected: Griffey (1987), Chipper Jones (1990), Alex Rodriguez (1993), Josh Hamilton (1999), Adrien Gonzalez (2000), Joe Mauer (2001), Delmon Young (2003), Matt Bush (2004), Justin Upton (2005), Tim Beckham (2008).

It’s too early to tell with Beckham (he presently has a .347 on-base percentage in the pitcher friendly Class A+ Florida State League at age 20, which is promising for a shortstop), and Delmon Young has been kind of disappointing (although it’s worth noting he is currently hitting .305 with an .830 OPS and doesn’t turn 25 for another two weeks).

However, the only real dog of the bunch is Matt Bush, and in his case, everyone thought it was a terrible, bargain basement pick when the Padres selected him solely because he was local boy who would sign for way less than No. 1 money.

The other seven players on the list feature three sure-thing Hall-of-Famers, two guys reasonably likely to have Hall of Fame careers (Gonzalez and Mauer), another player who probably would have had at least a borderline Hall of Fame career if drugs had not derailed him for years (Hamilton), and a young major leaguer with everything you look for in a player who might develop into a Hall of Famer (Upton).

Here are all the college pitchers selected with the first pick of the Draft since 1987: Andy Benes (1988), Ben McDonald (1989), Paul Wilson (1994), Kris Benson (1996), Matt Anderson (1997), Bryan Bullington (2002), Luke Hochevar (2006), David Price (2007), and Stephen Strasburg (2009). 

Now that we know Strasburg will be undergoing Tommy John surgery, is there even one pitcher whose career you would rather have than any one of the seven position players listed in the preceding paragraph?

I could see someone saying they’d rather have David Price’s career than Justin Upton’s career, given what we’ve seen so far, but I sure wouldn’t.  The odds are much greater David Price will get seriously hurt more often than Upton going forward.

Of course, I can already hear some of you saying the best player isn’t always selected with the first pick of the draft, Mark Prior and Mark Teixeira being examples. 

However, the first player selected is almost always a great prospect, and when it’s a high school position player overwhelmingly regarded as one of the very best players available, the position player’s chances of future major league success are significantly greater than any pitching prospect’s chances of future success due to the pitchers’ potential for major arm injuries.

Okay, the Nationals gave Bryce Harper a five-year deal, and who knows how long he’ll be in the minors before he’s ready for the show.  However, he’s so young (17) that he could spend the entire five years in the minors and still come up young enough to have a Hall of Fame or near Hall of Fame career.

Finally, it’s worth noting that at the major league level, teams all recognize how much more valuable a superstar position player is than a superstar pitcher, due to the pitcher’s greater likelihood of future injury.

That’s why the biggest player contracts go overwhelmingly to position players.  According to Cot’s Baseball Contracts, eight of the 10 most lucrative contracts in baseball history and 16 of the biggest 21 have gone to position players.

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Almost three months ago, Nationals Stadium was filled for one of the only times in its existence. Not because the Nationals were playing well, but because the most sought-after prospect in baseball, Stephen Strasburg, was set to make his debut.

The day was June 8, 2010. The opposing team was the Pittsburgh Pirates. If the uniforms and players faces were unidentifiable, you would have thought that it was Game 7 of the World Series. And with all the excitement, nobody was let down.

Strasburg finished the game after throwing seven innings, and striking out 14 batters while walking none.

Regardless of that electrifying debut, Strasburg was recently diagnosed with a torn ligament in his arm and will likely have Tommy John surgery. Although that procedure has been proven successful, and he has a good chance of returning at full force, this should be a big wake-up call for all organizations.

The day following Strasburg’s debut, I wrote an article foreshadowing the future of

Strasburg’s career as determined by his debut. Here is an excerpt from that article:

“Last night, Strasburg threw 11 pitches at 98 miles per hour, 12 at 99 miles per hour and two at 100 miles per hour…If Strasburg is going to continue throwing at this speed as a starter, he will have arm problems.”

How did I know this? Simple: I made it a priority not to let the excitement blind me of reality. As a New York Yankees fan, I don’t care if the Nationals win or lose, and I have no interest in selling tickets. That objective view allowed me to observe this event through a realistic lens. But looking at the numbers, it is concerning that I was rare in predicting this.

If you look at a breakdown of Strasburg’s pitches this season, you find that over 83 percent of the pitches he threw were either a fastball or a curveball, 58 percent of which were fastballs. Furthermore, the average velocity on his fastball was over 97 miles per hour.

Now, I am not a doctor, but pitching like that cannot be healthy. Not too long ago, my baseball coaches were former baseball players, and they used to tell the pitchers to do two things to avoid soreness in their arms: don’t overthrow, and avoid throwing curveballs. I’m guessing Strasburg missed that practice.

You also would have thought that the Nationals would have wanted to protect their star. However, they allowed him to throw over 90 pitches in eight of his 12 games, and over 95 pitches in six games. That’s not protection if you ask me. The Nationals prolonged this anti-medical pitching mentality, and failed to end it. And now they are paying for it.

As I said, this should be a heads up for all organizations. Selling tickets should not be your primary view, especially considering it could ruin a young kid’s career. Fans should be more hesitant to carve out plaques in Cooperstown, and should instead observe the game objectively. And, more importantly, the fans should teach the coaches to do likewise.

You can e-mail me at jess@jesskcoleman.com or follow me on Twitter @jesskcoleman.

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It was made known that Stephen Strasburg will most likely undergo Tommy John surgery to repair a torn ligament in his right elbow. 

The Nationals award Strasburg with a $15.1 million contract after being selected No. one overall in the 2009 MLB draft.

There is a major issue with this scenario.  In baseball, players can get injured very easily, just like any professional sport, but without a slot system, US players are still going to get large sums of money before ever playing a single inning of professional baseball.

A slot system requires that a  player receive a predetermined amount of money depending upon which pick that player is selected within the draft.

This can cause problems for teams like the Washington Nationals. They invested a large amount of money to the “future” of their organization only to endure a catastrophic injury such as Stephen Strasburg’s.

Although Tommy John is a very successful surgery these days, it will still require hard work and dedication from Strasburg if he wants to pitch at an elite level again. 

The lower budget teams in the MLB—the ones that tend to draft higher on a yearly basis than most teams—are never going to work themselves into contenders if they have to shell out millions of dollars for US baseball players that are hyped to be the next big thing, but never live up to it due to injury or other reasons.

Baseball is such an international sport that instead of spending $10 million on a US player coming out of high school or college, teams can spend that same amount of money on five to 10 Latin American players that have the same, if not greater, potential than the US players.

The current system is going to continue to bury teams, like the Nationals and thr Pirates, if there is not a slot system instituted.

The Nationals were actually beginning to establish a decent fan base solely because of the presence of Strasburg on the mound.  If he recovers from surgery well and regains his form, the fans will come back. But until then, it appears that baseball is once again dead in Washington D.C.

The Nationals do have the debut of Bryce Harper to look forward to in a year or two, but until then, the fanfare and excitement that was generated will be dormant.

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Update: The results of Strasburg’s MRI were not good. Strasburg was diagnosed with a tear in his ulner collateral ligament in his right elbow. Strasburg will most likely need Tommy John surgery and miss the 2011 season.

A couple of thoughts about this:

1. The Nationals are in no way, shape, or form to blame for this. They did everything they possibly could to protect Strasburg. Once again, this injury proves that pitching injuries have very little to do with pitch counts or innings pitched, but more to do with mechanics.

There is a reason why guys like Nolan Ryan, Greg Maddux, or Tom Glavine never got hurt.

2. Strasburg’s career isn’t over by any stretch of the imagination. Tommy John surgery is so common these days and the results of the procedure have been so successful, that a lot of the time a pitcher will come back from the surgery better than ever.

The pitcher Strasburg can relate to in his case should be Josh Johnson. Johnson had Tommy John surgery at the age of 23 and is now better than ever and a legit Cy Young candidate.

Strasburg will go see Dr. Louis Yokum for a second opinion this week.

Original Post

I sat down to watch the Washington Nationals – Philadelphia Phillies game early Saturday night and once again, I was impressed with what I saw out of phenom Stephen Strasburg for the first 4.1 innings.

Strasburg was rolling through the Phillies’ lineup, allowing just two hits and one run while striking out six. His fastball was touching the high-90′s and he was mixing in his curve and later his change to really dominate the Philly lineup.

Then the fifth inning happened.

One a 1-1 pitch to fellow rookie Domonic Brown, Strasburg threw a ball that tailed low and away to Brown, but Strasburg appeared to be hurt on the pitch. He kept flexing his arm and immediately the trainer came out to see what the issue was.

Strasburg left the game with what later was diagnosed as a strained tendon in his right forearm. Strasburg underwent an MRI on Sunday, but the results of that test are still not known.

I don’t know what the MRI will show, but if a trained tendon in his forearm is all that happened, then the Nationals are darn lucky. With Strasburg’s reaction, I thought he had blown out is elbow.

Regardless of what the MRI shows, Strasburg’s 2010 season should be over. The Nationals are going nowhere the rest of the season and there is no point in pushing Strasburg.

The Nationals have too much invested in Strasburg and they can’t be that desperate for a gate that they would threaten his career by sending him back out there.

For those who want to already want to compare him to Mark Prior — pump the breaks. Prior suffered injuries and had surgeries that prematurely ended his career. I am not going to come even close to putting Strasburg in the Prior category just yet.

As soon as the results of Strasburg’s MRI are announced, I will have an update on this post.

You can follow The Ghost of Moonlight Graham on Twitter @ theghostofmlg

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The National Treasure that was supposed to put Washington on the baseball map at long last didn’t last.

Instead, the National Treasure tore apart in the way of a torn ulnar collateral ligament which will require the infamous Tommy John surgery: every pitcher’s nightmare. 

The Washington Nationals were being as careful as any team would be with a young fireballer by limiting his innings and pitch counts each outing and through a season. 

Strasburg pitched 123 1/3 innings between the minor leagues and major leagues this season, when his limit was supposed to be anywhere from 150 to 160 innings this season, a reasonable amount for any rookie pitcher.

Yet those 123 innings or so proved to be too much for Washington’s National Treasure and caused his body, particularly his elbow, to veto any more workload and break down. 

For Strasburg fans to feel optimism, they should note that aces such as Tim Hudson, Chris Carpenter, and Josh Johnson suffered through the same fate and came back all right.

All three were selected to participate in the All-Star game and all have ERA’s under 3.00 since their return from the surgery. 

Yet, comparing Stephen Strasburg’s situation to Tim Hudson, Chris Carpenter, and Josh Johnson seems to be too simple and not accurate.

Hudson, Carpenter, and Johnson aren’t overpowering strikeout pitchers like Strasburg is and because of that, they have been able to pitch effectively. 

If there’s any name that Stephen Strasburg fans didn’t want to hear mentioned in the same sentence with Tommy John thrown in there it’s Kerry Wood.

The comparisons between the two are inevitable, especially now that Strasburg has suffered the injury.

Let’s take a look back at when Kerry Wood came up with the Chicago Cubs in 1998. Wood came up with much hype and in his fifth start he struck out 20 batters in a one-hit shutout against the Houston Astros.

Wood missed the last month of the regular season with elbow problems, although he did pitch in the playoffs in a loss to the Atlanta Braves. Wood finished the year with a 13-6 record, 3.40 ERA and 233 strikeouts in 166 2/3 innings. 

Wood had a 12.6 strikeouts per nine innings in comparison to Strasburg’s 12.2 strikeouts per nine innings. Both had Jim Riggleman as their manager when their injuries occurred and when they were diagnosed. 

Wood missed the 1999 season when he had Tommy John Surgery in Spring Training of that year and came back in 2000 with mixed results yet Wood would shine from 2001-2003 where he seemed to have left the dreaded fact that he had undergone any such elbow surgery. 

Already out for the season, Strasburg is expected to miss the entire 2011 season as Tommy John Surgery takes 12-18 months to heal. Even then, Strasburg might not yet be ready for the start of regular season in 2012 and knowing how cautious the Nationals have been they will be even more cautious with him at this time around. 

If there’s any bright side to this is that Strasburg will be back and pitch to the hype, it might not be right away but he’ll get back to pitching like he did when he was a San Diego State, the minor leagues and with the Washington Nationals. 

Strasburg will also also be under control of the Washington Nationals for a season longer because of the injury and that’s a benefit to the Nationals if Strasburg can return with the same stuff he had prior to the injury. 

The question with Strasburg is whether he is in Kerry Wood’s shadow and goes through a series of injuries not related to his elbow such as when Wood has issues with his triceps, knee, finger and shoulder from 2004-2008. 

Stephen Strasburg had inflamed right shoulder in late July prior to a start against the Atlanta Braves, the first sign of warning that Strasburg was breaking down but after a stint on the 15-day disabled list Strasburg returned and struggled with a 5.27 ERA in 13 2/3 innings. 

Now the Nationals may have establish a Stephen Strasburg rule which would stat that if Strasburg gets injured and the team is not in contention that he must be shut down for the remainder of the season. The Nationals may have ultimately benefitted from getting Stephen Strasburg out there after the shoulder troubles because the injury happened now when they weren’t in contention and probably won’t be until 2012 when Strasburg is slated to arrive along with possibly Bryce Harper. 

Nevertheless, Stephen Strasburg will be back to his M.O. which is striking out batters with his stuff. It may not be quite like did before but it’ll be close enough to still call him National Treasure which is currently in possession of the Dr. James Andrews. Not worry fans, the National Treasure will be fixed and delivered in 2012 but for now you must wait until your moment to shine. 

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Look, Washington National fans, I know you all must be feeling like absolute crap right now. And with reason. Stephen Strasburg going down, especially this late in the season, might have been the worst news a Nationals fan could’ve ever heard. In particular when considering how good he looked in only his first year in the majors.

However, here are two silver linings to cheer all of you up.

1) The worst news about Strasburg was that he will probably be getting Tommy John surgery. TJ is the great mystery in baseball today. It can either destroy a pitcher’s career, or it can lift them to new heights.

What do John Smoltz, Josh Johnson, David Wells, Chris Carpenter and Tim Hudson have in common? They all made it back from TJ surgery and enjoyed great careers. Look at Mariano Rivera. The young Yankee had it done in 1992 and then enjoyed a great career afterwards.

It can be done. 

Nobody will know how it will affect Strasburg until he pitches again post-op, but he had a million-dollar arm beforehand, so it’s better to be optimistic.

2) The Nationals weren’t going to be too competitive in 2011 anyway. Their big year is going to be 2012. Bryce Harper will be on the opening day roster and the rotation will be anchored by Strasburg and Jordan Zimmerman (another TJ survivor).

2011 is going to be just another year for the Nationals. Harper needs at least a year of seasoning in the minors. If anything, Strasburg would just be an effective but unneeded talent for the Nats. 

That will be the big time for the youth movement, the young guys all together for the first time (plus Free Agent A). 

Well, it’s a rough time to be in Washington right now watching sports. At least savor the play of John Wall and Alex Ovechkin.

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