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Stephen Strasburg's tour of the Nationals' minor league affiliates will likely make its last stop Thursday night. Double-A Harrisburg announced on Thursday afternoon that Strasburg will pitch on Thursday against the Portland Sea Dogs.
It will presumably be Strasburg's final minor league start before he returns to the majors; he threw five-plus shutout innings on Saturday for Triple-A Syracuse, taking a perfect game into the sixth inning and striking out seven batters.
He will likely throw six innings or 75 to 80 pitches, whichever comes first. And Ivan Rodriguez, who is catching for Harrisburg on Tuesday, will likely still be there to catch Strasburg on Thursday.
From there, we can gather Strasburg could likely return to the Nationals' rotation as soon as Sept. 6, though all it takes is a rainout or a setback somewhere to push things off-line, for those of you who are looking into tickets. But Strasburg has been healthy through every step of his rehab so far, and if he returns on the 6th, he could make three starts at home before finishing the year in Philadelphia and Florida.
And as those of you who went to see Strasburg in the minors last year know, Harrisburg is both a) within reasonable driving distance of Washington and b) as good of a minor league facility as you're going to find. It wouldn't be a bad option to trek up there to see him, either. But if he is indeed back on the 6th, there will be plenty of chances to see him this month, either at Nationals Park or somewhere in Pennsylvania.
