Ace in the Hole

    The Washington Nationals shut down starting pitcher Steven Strasburg on Saturday morning, after a terrible start against the Miami Marlins the night before. It was no surprise that Strasburg would be shut down, seeing as team management had been saying they would since before the start of the season, due to precautions taken from Tommy John surgery that ended Strasburg's season a  year ago. However, a couple of weeks ago, Nationals manager Davey Johnson said that they had decided that they were going to shut Strasburg down following his start on September 12 against the  New York Mets. Thus, it was a surprise when the Nationals suddenly decided to shut him down early, following his rough outing against Miami on Friday night. Strasburg struggled through 3 innings, allowing 6 hits, five earned runs, and two homers before being pulled from the game for, what turned out to be, the final time this season.

    The announcement of the premature shutdown came Saturday morning with manager Davey Johnson saying that "...his head just wasn't in it." as the reason for ending Strasburg's season one start early. What I wonder is anyone ever thought that the reason he pitched so poorly on Friday just might be because, not only did he know about the deadline before the season, but so did the media and the fans. As Strasburg's innings count rose, and everyone in the country began the "Countdown to Shutdown", all eyes were focus, without end, on Strasburg. So, of course his head wasn't in the start, and it was his own team's fault. If the Nationals hadn't made his impending shutdown so public, there wouldn't have been so much pressure on him, or a "Countdown to Shutdown" from the media and fans. Quite frankly, I don't see why Strasburg needed to be shut down.  He looked healthy and was having a great season. He was 15-6 with a 2.94 ERA and 195 strikeouts and an NL Cy Young candidate prior to his start on Friday night against Miami.

Strasburg in the Nationals dugout

   But, the shutdown happened, and right away, it seemed like the Nationals might regret the benching of their number one starter. In the first two games following the loss of Strasburg, the team struggled against the last place Miami Marlins. Poor pitching forced the game into extra innings, where the Nationals were eventually victorious. Then on Sunday, the offense was non-existent as the were blanked 8-0 by Miami. Pitcher Gio Gonzalez helped the Nats get back on track with a 5-1 win against the New York Mets last night, but it'll be interesting to see if they can stay consistent without Strasburg's skills and leadership. "Operation Loss-burg" begins tomorrow night as John Lannan takes the mound against the Mets (Strasburg's originally scheduled last start). It'll be interesting to see if the Nationals can maintain their season's success and make a statement in the playoffs, or if they'll suffer from "Stras-bite".