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Stephen Strasburg has a significant tear in his ulnar collateral ligament that will probably require Tommy John surgery, Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo said this morning.
Strasburg, who came out of last Saturday's game against the Phillies in the fifth inning after throwing a changeup to Domonic Brown, was initially diagnosed with a strained flexor tendon in his right forearm. He was examined in Philadelphia last Saturday, and a Phillies team doctor told the Nationals that Strasburg would be fine, and would be throwing again in five days.
But a subsequent MRI showed enough swelling in Strasburg's arm to merit the MRI arthrogram, in which dye is injected into the area of the patient's injury. That test showed the tear of Strasburg's ulnar collateral ligament. The Nationals will fly Strasburg to the West Coast to get a second opinion from Dr. Lewis Yocum, but after two MRIs and opinions from multiple doctors, Rizzo is confident Strasburg will need Tommy John surgery, and said he will have the surgery "as soon as maybe the next day" after Yocum's examination.
"We've got the dry MRI, we've got the MRI arthrogram, we've got two different doctor's opinions," Rizzo said. "We feel it should be a typical Tommy John rehabilitation, and this is going to be no different."
The injury strikes quite the blow to the Nationals, both because of what Strasburg already meant to their rotation and because of how carefully the Nationals feel they developed him. They were planning to limit Strasburg to 150-160 professional innings this season, and had let him finish seven innings in the majors just twice. He did not reach 100 pitches in any of his 12 starts.
"Yes, it's frustrating, because the injuries happen to people you think they shouldn't happen to," Rizzo said. "This player was developed and cared for in the correct way. Things like this happen. Pitchers break down, pitchers get hurt. But we're certainly not second-guessing ourselves. We've developed a lot of pitchers this way. We're satisfied with his development. Scott Boras is satisfied with his development, and I know Stephen is as well. So we're good with that - frustrated, yes, second-guessing ourselves, no."
Rizzo said it's difficult for doctors to tell exactly when the tear happened, but added they believe it happened on one particular pitch. Strasburg held his elbow and shook his hand a few times after throwing the pitch to Brown, but told manager Jim Riggleman he had felt a similar pain at San Diego State and stayed in the game.
On Friday, Rizzo described what Strasburg said he'd felt at San Diego State as "a little grab," and characterized the pain he felt on the pitch to Brown as something different.
And team president Stan Kasten said part of the difficulty in diagnosing Strasburg was that the 22-year-old himself was saying he "still felt pretty good."
The Nationals told Strasburg the news on Monday, with his agent, Scott Boras, in town for Bryce Harper's introductory press conference. Kasten said Boras shared a long list of his clients who'd come back successfully from Tommy John surgery. And the list is certainly filled with big names: former Cy Young winner Chris Carpenter, who pitched for the Cardinals last night, has had it. So have the Braves' Tim Hudson and Billy Wagner, the Yankees' A.J. Burnett, the Cubs' Ryan Dempster, the Twins' Francisco Liriano and the Giants' Brian Wilson.
Jordan Zimmermann, the Nationals' top pitching prospect before Strasburg was drafted, also had it last year, and made his big-league return last night, just over 12 months after the surgery. He faced Carpenter in the Nationals' 11-10 win.
Rizzo and Kasten both said Strasburg was upset when he first heard the news, but quickly turned his focus to rehabbing well and getting back to the majors. If he came back as quickly as Zimmermann did, it's not out of the question Strasburg could be pitching in the majors next September. But a 2012 return seems more likely.
Strasburg ends his rookie season with a 5-3 record, a 2.91 ERA and 92 strikeouts in 68 innings.
"I was in the room while the others were talking to him. I was with him in the room Monday when these questions first arose," Kasten said. "He was upset Monday.This is tough news for a kid with this kind of future and the high expectations he puts on himself. This is a high-achievement oriented kid. Yeah, it's a tough day for him and for all of us and for everyone who's a Nats fan. But we still have Jordan coming back, and a year from now, we'll have Stephen and the other 24 guys. It's easier for us today than it was Monday, and i think for all our fans and our teammates, it'll be easier than it is today."
darn, darn, double darn
Didn't even need to read the article, just saw the name, "Tommy John" and thought were (enter expletive).
What does that say about the Phillies team doc?
I had this bad vibe yesterday. The pro sports teams in this town have been cursed since JKC died and didn't bequeath the Redskins to John or his family.
Not that I'd wish this on anyone, but, in the grand scheme of things, I don't think the news is as dire as people are making it out to be. The success rate for this type of surgery has been well-documented. In fact, many pitchers who undergo this procedure come back stronger. Perhaps, by opening day 2012, we'll have Strasburg and Zimmermann 100% healthy and ready to go. It's not as if the Nats were going to contend next year anyway. So, if Strasburg was going to suffer an injury, was this such a horrible time for it to occur?
SS will come back and be stronger for it, mentally and physically. He also has J. Zim as a living testament that a comeback next year is possible. He had a chance to get his feet wet this year and knows what he will be working (and working hard) for. All that being said, what a bummer for him and his family. I wish him all the best for a speedy recovery.
I kind of figured ... especially after they went for the dye illuminated MRI. He joins McGreary on the rehab
path.
If he had been healthy ... acquiring the right pieces might have let them compete next year. Perhaps they will be better than many surmise with Yunesky Maya joining the rotation along with Jordan Zimmermann. Certainly LIvo will be back. Be nice if they could get Cliff Lee ... but ...
In 2012 some of the position players in Hagerstown may have reached Syracuse and be major league ready. And they will need a year or so to acclimate to the majors as Desmond apparently has. Its looking more and more like 2013 and after a couple years shy of a decade of losing after a long and dreary history of it going back to the Senators and Expos ... you're going to have a very dour and cynical fan base.
And of course Bowden will blame Rizzo and company for not shutting him down after the first incident and doing this complete study. Of course they do have the original MRI's as a baseline. They might not be as good at the dye illuminated study though.
wow you people dont know crap if you honestly think he will come back stronger. Yea there is a decent list of people who have come back from it. But the list of people who haven't is much larger. He isnt going to come back stronger. Wake up and stop dreaming.
I just wonder how long before the *national media* puts this blame somehow on Rigglemans shoulders since he was Woods manager. Will this be the final nail in Riggs coffin?
He just needs to suck it up and pitch.
I'm interested in how this affects the strategy for 2011 as well. Does this make it more or less likely that they re-sign Dunn (or no effect)? I think it makes it harder for the team to risk playing 2011 with no big bat at first. The conservative move was always to sign Dunn, and I actually think they'll want to be more conservative with 2011 now, to avoid an even larger fan base hit than what the absence of Strasburg will cause.
The news obviously raises a lot of questions for the 2010 rotation. As Stras it seemed had the only solidified spot. Question #1, who is the Opening Day starter? It can't be J-Zimm, coming off TJ. Can't be Lannan after his minor league stint. Can't be Marquis after his first half. Well who can it be? Livo might not be on the team. Will it be a "McFree Agent"? Just some food for thought.
Continuing to think through the ramifications. Maybe the team really does try to make Cliff Lee an offer he can't refuse. They can't move forward assuming that Strasburg will be able to pitch 200 innings until, at best, 2013. They don't have another #1 starter in waiting. They can't have two more seasons like this one (I think management and ownership truly believe that). Maybe it would play out like Teixeira did, and it goes against Kasten's general philosophy, but I can see them deciding to jump into the Lee sweepstakes with both feet.
I guess it must have been Dusty Baker's fault for Prior under that model. These injuries to young flamethrowers are far too common to blame Riggs. Rizzo was being beyond cautious with him in the minors. Sometimes you just need to live. Injuries are part of baseball, we just didn't dare that Stephen would get injured. If Riggs gets fired, I don't think it will because of this. I think it will be because of the horrendous second half they are having.
I guess you don't count the Terps as a "DC team." National championship remember? Nor do you count DC United titles. Also, DC has had somewhat success with Hoyas reaching the Final Four, three Redskin playoff appearances, the Wizards after MJ, and the CAPS despite their playoff futility. The Redskins last won a title in 1992 if memory serves me right in Ben's hometown, so they were declining as JKC health declined.
Riggleman should be FIRED!!! He never should have had him throwing the next day after
he left the game with the arm problem. Riggleman is a Joke and if the Lerners don't
wake up and fire this fool we will stink for years!!!
-------------------
He actually didn't throw; Rizzo was mistaken when he told us that Strasburg had thrown on Sunday. The last time Strasburg threw a ball was the pitch to Brown.
Ben
"Not that I'd wish this on anyone, but, in the grand scheme of things, I don't think the news is as dire as people are making it out to be. The success rate for this type of surgery has been well-documented. In fact, many pitchers who undergo this procedure come back stronger. Perhaps, by opening day 2012, we'll have Strasburg and Zimmermann 100% healthy and ready to go. It's not as if the Nats were going to contend next year anyway. So, if Strasburg was going to suffer an injury, was this such a horrible time for it to occur?"
-->I agree with this. The downturn for the team started when they called up Storen, not that it's his fault. They were an overachieving(as well as overrated) at 20-15 then J-MAX let his mouth loose and the season tumbled apart. June was disaster when they had the relatively speaking easiest stretch of schedule.
Stras takes the mount every 5th day. It's more of a symbolic loss than anything else. It probably means less season ticket sales, less national tv appearances(if any), less national media attention, etc.
This will show me who the "real" fans are. Who shows up to the second home game of the year?
Not that I wish injury on anyone especially sTeVie, but the StrasFans aren't fans, they are bandwagoners.
"He also has J. Zim as a living testament that a comeback next year is possible"
--> Am I missing something here? J-Zimm went 4 innings and allowed 5 ER and 7 hits. If he continues those kind of outings, he will be diganosed as "injured" and find himself back on the DL. I would hardly call his outing last night a success and could have been much worse. Let's wait and see how effective he really is. I know he became somewhat of cult figure in the Natmosphere last year when he got injured, he really didn't prove himself at all last year. This is a pitcher let me remind you who went 6 straight outings allowing a run in the first inning. Sure he can get strikeouts, he can also get hard hit.
"I kind of figured ... especially after they went for the dye illuminated MRI. He joins McGreary on the rehab
path."
-->One major difference, who is McGreary, who is Strasburg? They are about $14 million apart in income earned.
"If he had been healthy ... acquiring the right pieces might have let them compete next year. Perhaps they will be better than many surmise with Yunesky Maya joining the rotation along with Jordan Zimmermann. Certainly LIvo will be back. Be nice if they could get Cliff Lee ... but ... "
-->Really, who is their opening day starter. If they had any chance of acquiring Cliff Lee, it's over, we're in DC not Hollywood. Maya hasn't done anything. I don't even know if Livo will be back, doesn't he want to be on a winning team? 2011 seems over before it began.
"In 2012 some of the position players in Hagerstown may have reached Syracuse and be major league ready. And they will need a year or so to acclimate to the majors as Desmond apparently has. Its looking more and more like 2013 and after a couple years shy of a decade of losing after a long and dreary history of it going back to the Senators and Expos ... you're going to have a very dour and cynical fan base."
-->I agree with you here when Harper comes up, they should be competitive but not exactly going after their first playoff experience in three decades. I think Desmond's progress will say a lot next year. Does Espinoza need a year as well? Lots of questions, few answers... we shall see.
As I've said many times, 1000 different things can happen to young pitchers and 999 of them are bad. All this talk about Cy Young, HOF, comparisons to Koufax, etc. was grossly, grossly premature.
Show me a young pitcher with a 100-mph heater and devastating curve and I'll show you a future arm injury. Assuming he comes back, he'll have to come back as a different pitcher or he may as well get used to the term DL.
I think he's the "Trammel" of the Nats, they will go after their "Leyland" when they think they can actually be competitive and its NOT now.
Andrew,
We ignoramuses are so fortunate to have you to keep us straight. Unfortunately you're wrong. A doctor who does the surgery just said on Sports Center that 75% of pitchers who have e surgery return as strong or stronger than before the surgery. So before you denigrate the intelligence of folks here, you should get your facts straight.
"I'm interested in how this affects the strategy for 2011 as well. Does this make it more or less likely that they re-sign Dunn (or no effect)?"
-->I think it's more likely. It's a business, he's a popular figure, they might have to overpay for him now.
"I think it makes it harder for the team to risk playing 2011 with no big bat at first. The conservative move was always to sign Dunn, and I actually think they'll want to be more conservative with 2011 now, to avoid an even larger fan base hit than what the absence of Strasburg will cause."
-->He plays every 5th day, it's more of a symbolic loss than anything else. They are in last place with him, they'll be in last place without him. Just less dough from the box office, not as much national attention meaning less appearances on ESPN, FOX, etc, less casual fans.
there goes the playoffs.
I am so sad. Best wishes to Stephen and his family.
Glad we got a peak at him this year and will be at the Park when he returns.
Can't analyze the implications or even want to try.
Please keep Dibble and his rockheaded macho idiocy off the air for good!
This is making me feel sick...
if anyone wants to know how this happened, just take a look at Strasburg's start in Atlanta before the all star break...
Riggleman sent Strasburg out to pitch in the bottom of the 7th...game tied 0-0...The Kid walked Chipper Jones on 4 pitches.Stephen was " obviously done" but Riggs left him in to get shelled.
Riggleman had just sent The Kid to the plate in the top of the 7th with 2 outs and the go ahead run on 3rd...Riggleman didn;t want to look stupid for not going with a pinch hitter...
Strasburg took the loss and then struggled badly in his next two starts...he wasn't 100%, but the NATS kept sending him out to pitch...and probably ruined the best young arm to come along in decades..
Who was it that suggested it would take Strasburg to get Oswalt. Oswalt would look pretty good about now. Potential is just that. Potential. I'll take reality.
Thanks Jim Mora.
"This is making me feel sick...
if anyone wants to know how this happened, just take a look at Strasburg's start in Atlanta before the all star break...
Riggleman sent Strasburg out to pitch in the bottom of the 7th...game tied 0-0...The Kid walked Chipper Jones on 4 pitches.Stephen was " obviously done" but Riggs left him in to get shelled.
Riggleman had just sent The Kid to the plate in the top of the 7th with 2 outs and the go ahead run on 3rd...Riggleman didn;t want to look stupid for not going with a pinch hitter...
Strasburg took the loss and then struggled badly in his next two starts...he wasn't 100%, but the NATS kept sending him out to pitch...and probably ruined the best young arm to come along in decades.."
-->Erik apparently your having a case of amnesia. He allowed two runs in his next appearance in that epic July 3rd game. Then he allowed a first inning homer (if im not mistaken first batter homer) and pitched five solid innings against the Giants. 95% would love to "struggle [this] badly." You really need to check your facts. I listed his lines for the next two games below. In fact, his next two games against the Marlins and Reds were both wins, had a quality start in the former and was one out away from one in the other. He had only one really bad game against the Marlins in that following game. Pitched OK against the Dbacks in the "Protest game" and was having a good outing against the Phillies until he got injured.
I appreciate your attempts to mislead the public about Stephen stats.
Jul 9 SFO W 8-1 W 6.0 3 1 1 1 1 8 3 2 0 0 0 42.2 2.32
Jul 3 NYM W 6-5 - 5.0 4 2 2 0 3 5 2 2 0 0 0 36.2 2.45
Steve Phillips and he's had a few issues lately, if you haven't heard. I usually agree with your POTENTIAL comment and think its a vastly overused word especially when describing young pitchers. This is a rare case where the results exceeded the hype atleast initially. Who knows where Oswalt will be in 5 years. It's not like he was pitching unbelievable with Houston.
Hope SS makes it back better than ever. However, it is a very demanding rehab, something Zimm was up for. (Mady, you can't go by one game, give Zimm a chance). I'm just worried that SS might revert to his pre college days of bad work habits. Also, they should consider cleaning up SS's knee while he is out. I wonder if that played a part in his arm trouble.
Hey Andrew, You need to get your facts straight.Maybe you don't know crap!!!
'Hope SS makes it back better than ever. However, it is a very demanding rehab, something Zimm was up for. (Mady, you can't go by one game, give Zimm a chance). I'm just worried that SS might revert to his pre college days of bad work habits. Also, they should consider cleaning up SS's knee while he is out. I wonder if that played a part in his arm trouble."
-->I'm just hanging up the "Mission Accoplished" banner quite yet after his horrible outing yesterday after a string of succesful MINOR LEAGUE starts. Also, he didn't accomplish as much as people think the first time around.
I'm sure Stras won't gain 50 lbs and go to Taco Bell every afternoon. He has too much to play for, either here or in a different city.
from legit media reports...
"
July 3..".Strasburg battled early wildness, issuing 3 first inning walks"...
July 9,,,"gave up a homer to the 1st hitter he faced, then STRUGGLED to find the strike zone"....
Strasburg should have been pulled for a PH in the top of the 7th in Atlanta...he had pitched enough....and the go ahead run was on 3rd
He should have been pulled after he walked the first hitter he faced in the bottom of the 7th on 4 pitches..
he was not...
ball 4 was 2 feet wide ot the plate and in the dirt...Strasburg's delivery on that pitch looked awkward..
maddy...given that we ARE where we are now...are you really ok with Strasburg being put in that position?