Would you shut Strasburg down?

[Ryno84MVP]

Stephen Strasburg (now at 139 1/3 innings) is expected to miss two to three regular season starts to limit his 2012 innings. Furthermore, it is being reported that Strasburg will not participate in the playoffs once he is shut down. So it's a player’s health concerns vs. a win-now mentality. What would you do if you were the first place Nationals?

[revo]

I would start him every 7-10 days to have him ready for the playoffs. It seems unlikely they'll lose the division lead with him making just 5-6 more starts rather than 8-10.

[Pauly]

nobody in America thinks this is a good decision except for one guy. And the one guy isn't Strasburg.

[Roto Rooter]

Screwing with his regular rest/throwing schedule is bound to screw him up more than a few extra innings on the arm. If they are going to shut him down then they need to shut him down.

[Big Tymer]

nobody in America thinks this is a good decision except for one guy. And the one guy isn't Strasburg.

2 guys. Boras clearly think Rizzo is 100% right and the fact that he is compensated for long term production does not in any way cloud his judgement.

[OaklandA's]

There is no way to ever know if this is the correct decision, but Rizzo and the Nationals have certainly done a lot of research on it. Jayson Stark wrote a very good article on this last week - http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/82...just-let-pitch

[Gregg]

I think they should consult with Dusty Baker on the subject.

[madducks]

I think they should consult with Dusty Baker on the subject.

I would love to hear opinions from Mark Prior & Kerry Wood.

[joncarlos]

Honestly, I don't know. But I am leaning towards no.

If I say no, I would definitely need to cap him at 80-90 pitches per start the rest of the way, and not move him back more than 1-2 days for any start. I do believe that staying on something close to his regular schedule would be the best way to go. I'd be OK with him going maybe 100-105 pitches in the playoffs if it was really necessary.

Here's the thing... we say it all the time in roto. Flags fly forever. The Nats are not going to have Strasburg forever. He's a Boras client. So he has maybe 3-4 years left and then he's going to be a free agent if his arm is still intact. I wouldn't be as concerned with what happens 10-12 years down the road. Honestly, I don't think anyone who throws 100 with a slider that touches 90 is going to have their labrum intact when they're 40.

Yes, I'm putting forth Dusty Baker's argument. If you asked Strasburg what he wanted, I'm sure he wants to pitch. And yes, it's the GM and manager's job to keep him healthy even if it's against his wishes.

Now, if you tell me that you're Mike Rizzo and you're looking at adding another $35mil in payroll next year and you feel really good about 2013-2015, maybe I could be talked into trying to keep Strasburg healthy for that. What they've done with Zimmermann has certainly worked. But what if you shut Strasburg down and he blows out his elbow on opening day next year? Going into the 2012 playoffs with Strasburg, Gio, EJAx as your top 3 is a lot better than Gio, EJax, Detwiler, and you missed that chance.

But for me, the bigger argument in favor of shutting him down would be that he just hasn't been that good for the last month. Except it isn't really true. Over his last 46.1 innings (8 starts), he's 5-3, 3.11 with 51 Ks and 15 walks. Granted, those have ALL been against bad teams, but it doesn't scream unhealthy to me.

[Boone]

[But what if you shut Strasburg down and he blows out his elbow on opening day next year? Going into the 2012 playoffs with Strasburg, Gio, EJAx as your top 3 is a lot better than Gio, EJax, Detwiler, and you missed that chance]

But the top three will be J. Zimmermann, Gio, and EJax/Detwiler, and that will be a pretty good trio.

As a Nats season ticket holder, I'm in for the long haul. If the best medical advice says shut him down, then by all means do it and protect the kid's career.. Maybe Stras won't be in DC forever, but he'll be around for awhile. Plus Boras isn't going away, and if he sees he can trust Rizzo to take care of his players, there'll be others in the pipeline that we can draft and sign.

[Gregg]

[ Plus Boras isn't going away, and if he sees he can trust Rizzo to take care of his players, there'll be others in the pipeline that we can draft and over pay for.

fixed.

[Gregg]

Win now. Ride that pony until he falls down. He can polish his World Series Ring while he is recovering from his TJ.

I thought it was pretty stupid to limit his innings at the begining of the year. If they are out of it shut him down. If they are in it do not. It might be 104 years before they get another chance.

[Hornsby]

Shut him down...if the people who went to school for this for a dozen years or more concur that it's a good idea, it's a good idea. It's a very good young team, and it's got plenty in the pipeline to be a contender for years to come. Maybe next year you let him loose, but you can't mess with a guy with a once in a decade arm.

[swampdragon]

shut him down - protect your investment

[Davros]

If I were the GM of the Nats, I don't think I could let a World Series chance like this slide away by not using my best players for the whole regular season and beyond. That being said, there are ways to limit the potential danger to Strasburg. I would have put him on a 5 IP or 70-80 pitch limit a few weeks ago to lessen the load on his elbow. That means a bit more creativity in bullpen usage until Sept 1st (i.e. a designated long man who gets 2-3 IP on Strasburg start days), but it can be done. That plan would stay in effect for the playoffs as well. Using off-days as a way to slide some starts back an extra day would also be smart. Also, I would make it clear to Strasburg that we need him to tell the training staff of any glimmer of abnormal soreness in his elbow. If he does feel anything slightly questionable, he gets shut down immediately.