Okay so Im way late on this, but I didn't when the National shut Strasburg down it was for the play offs too. What's everyone's thoughts on this?
If I was Strasburg I'd be pissed and pretty much telling Washington Id be gone as so as Im free agent eligibil.
You can't sit Strasburg down for a full month, and then expect him to just pitch again in the play-offs. That would be insane - the injury risk would be extremely high - you can't sit you arm for that long and go back full speed without injury concern. It would be better to just to let him pitch all year then sitting him and starting him up again.
Personally I think the Nationals could have managed this a bit better. Given that Strasburg could be the #3 starter in the playoffs, I would have started him for a 3-4 inning stint every 5 or 6 days in September This is easy for a team to manage as they have extended bullpen after September 1. I would then had him pitch 5 innings in his starts in the playoffs (or 75 pitch count). Again with an 11 man staff with days off in the playoffs this is not going to kill the bullpen. This would have avoided the Strasburg distraction that is going to be over the Nats all playoffs.
In reality, the Nats really are not hurt too bad by this. They are hurt a bit but its not a major loss if Gonzalez and Zimmerman pitch well.
Gonzalez and Zimmerman have better ERA's than Strasburg and could be the 1-2 starters. Ross Detwiler's ERA this year was 3.4. He replaces Strasburg's starts. The guy that steps in for a start a series is veteran Edwin Jackson who has some postseason experience and had a moderate ERA of 4.00 this year. (It could be inversed)
Either way in a seven game series, 1 extra start goes to Edwin Jackson and 1 extra start to Ross Detwiler. It's not crushing.
The Nats actually did the same thing with Jordan Zimmerman last year -- of course it was not much of a story because a) the Nats were out of the race, and b) it was Zimmerman.
