Nationals To Activate Stephen Strasburg

Stephen Strasburg will be activated from the disabled list to make tomorrow’s start against the Braves, Nationals manager Dusty Baker told reporters, including Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com (Twitter link).

There was a bit of panic (understandably so) among Nationals fans when the team announced on Aug. 22 that he would be placed on the disabled list due to elbow soreness. However, reports shortly after the announcement indicated that the injury was minor in nature and that Strasburg’s DL stint was expected to be minimal. That’s proven to be the case, as Strasburg will end up having missed a total of 16 days on the disabled list.

The Nationals are in firm control of the NL East, so Strasburg’s return figures to have little impact on the team’s already-overwhelming chances of making it to the postseason. However, getting Strasburg back on track following what was a dreadful run of starts leading up to his injury will be crucial for the Nationals’ chances in a postseason series. Prior to his placement on the disabled list, Strasburg had been shelled for 19 earned runs in 11 2/3 innings of work across three starts — a slump that caused his ERA to balloon from 2.63 all the way to 3.59. And, of course, from a bigger-picture standpoint, the lack of a serious injury to Strasburg is also a worth a sigh of relief for Nats fans, as the 28-year-old has not yet even entered into the first season of the seven-year, $175MM contract extension he signed with Washington earlier this season.