The Nationals have reversed course on yesterday’s announcement that Tanner Roark would take the ball for this afternoon’s win-or-go-home NLDS Game 4. Instead, star righty Stephen Strasburg will make the start against the Cubs after indications were that he’d be unavailable due to illness. President of baseball operations Mike Rizzo says that Strasburg offered to pitch last night, but at the time seemed too ill to go. (Via MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand, on Twitter.) After a more aggressive treatment, though, Strasburg reported feeling better this morning and asked for the nod.
Much of the story here lies in the backdrop of yesterday’s rainy-day drama and the longer-running narratives surrounding Strasburg, which Barry Svrluga of the Washington Post broke down perfectly this morning before the change of direction. Needless to say, the stakes are now raised in an already momentous game for the Nats, who are trying to avoid a fourth-straight NLDS exit.
More from the NL East:
- The Mets are beginning to conduct interviews as they search for a successor to outgoing manager Terry Collins, Marc Carig of Newsday tweets. At this point, it’s just preliminary chats with potential candidates. The first round will likely carry over into next week, though perhaps it’s also fair to wonder if the club will wait for other possible options that are currently unavailable due to postseason involvement.
- At this point, at least, the Phillies are the only other team in the division preparing to find a new skipper. Ryan Lawrence of the Philly Voice updated the situation yesterday after some interesting names were suggested as possibilities for that opening. Former Phils GM Ruben Amaro Jr., who has since joined the Red Sox coaching staff, is not a candidate for the position, says Lawrence (who expresses not a little incredulity at the proposition). Likewise, long-time Phillies baseball man Larry Bowa — once the skipper, most recently the team’s bench coach — isn’t going to take the helm. As Lawrence notes, GM Matt Klentak has cited a desire to find “a new voice in the dugout and a new style” of manager with this hire. The team has, however, considered at least one familiar face: third-base coach Juan Samuel was first in line for preliminary interviews, Bob Brookover of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
Go Nats. World Series bound 17
So Strasburg had the flu ? That’s one way for the Nats to find some “runs”.
I needed a good laugh
You might want to reconsider….
Everyone’s criticizing Dusty for the original decision on almost every message board I read, but then I turn on the radio (98.7ESPN) and they blame Strasburg for feeling “under the weather” saying it’s not a good enough excuse to miss Game-4 and Dusty’s protecting his player.
On almost every internet commentary message board, Dusty is universally hated, and everyone thinks it’s his decision 100%.
I dont know who’s more responsible for this reverse-decision. Strasburg or Dusty? My gut tells me to go against ESPN and the decision is in Dusty’s hands 100%. Either way it’s the correct decision.
The Nationals have a lot on the line here. Not just the potential premature end to their season but the health of a pitcher they still have more than $100M invested in. No way this decision was left in the hands of Johnny Lee Baker. The way this thing played out has Rizzo’s fingerprints all over it, which is both expected and a good thing.
If the Nats manage to come back and win the series, the series MVP may well be the rain.
your first mistake was listening to ESPN radio
Lol
I figured..
But weak of them, to blame Strasburg like that. (It was 12:30-1:00pm East time zone weekday) Good thing it was all 100% unsubstantiated. It was just interesting to hearing blame Strasburg like that driving on my way to class, when it felt like 99.99% of pple on the internet blamed Dusty for the initial decision to start Roark over Strasburg game 4.
Probly Rizzo’s doing. I dont know what would’ve happened if Roark cost them a chance to advance + “another 1st round exit” the rain delay was a blessing in disguise.
” . . . What would’ve happened if Roark cost them a chance to advance . . . ”
If Roark had started and lost it would not have been fair to blame the series loss on him. Plan A involved him making zero starts this round.
” . . . It was just interesting to hearing blame (sic) Strasburg like that driving on my way to class . . . ”
No classical music stations nearby? Sports talk radio is troll central for sports fans. Starting with most of the folks they’ve got hosting. They are, understandably, concerned with drawing ratings and not with disseminating information. And it shows. Saying something that gets a bunch of folks angry is a good day at the office. Who cares whether it’s true, it’s only baseball.
“Probly (sic) Rizzo’s doing.”
He’s the GM. Who else would you expect to make a decision like this? That’s why he makes the big bucks.
“Weak of them to blame Strasburg like that.”
Also ignorant. Strasburg has been known to pitch through pain to the point of injury in the past. If he said he wasn’t good to go I’d have taken his word for it as Rizzo apparently did. The Nats handling of Strasburg compares quite favorably with Los Mets handling of Harvey.
Chase Utley for Phillies manager. He would command the respect of all the young players. Bright baseball guy too from what I’ve read. He could probably outhit a few of them too.
Chase is my favorite player of all time. I love him, the way he plays the game, and the way he goes about his business. That said, Chase has too much potential to be Ryne Sandberg part deux. The choices should be Dusty Walthan or Showalter (if he somehow becomes available). Chase has got a bright future ahead of him with his off the field charities. I don’t think we’ll see him back on the field after he retires from playing.
Showalter would be a great choice too and I’m hearing there’s some friction with the front office in Baltimore.
utley would be a great manager, he would teach them right. If he is done playing.
He could be a player manager like pete rose
I love Chase, but I don’t really think he’d be a great manager. He was never the sort to be a vocal team leader, helping others learn to play, he was always the quiet, “lead by example” type of guy, and didn’t exactly love spending time with the press. I don’t think he’d really enjoy managing, either, based on what we know of his personality.
Mike Schmidt was the same. He managed the Threshers for a year, then resigned and stayed away from coaching professionally ever since.
Agree. Chase would not be able to handle a player that did not play hard like he did 100% of the time. Too much like ryne sand berg
I’m hearing he’s playing an active role in teaching the young players on the Dodgers and they’re receptive to him. I think he’d
make a good choice, but suspect Walthan will get the gig.
I know it’s easy to bag on the agent, but it seems that the Boras Corporation and the FO established rules of engagement early on that make stories about his availability and use seem much more susceptible to spin from either camp than news about other start pitchers.
Oh that Dusty is crafty…
Phillies should go after Ozzie Guillen if they want a strong and different personality.
But i think Ozzie Guillen would be perfect in Boston instead.
I agree whitesox as long as they bring in a package with Terry Collins and bobby Valentine as coaches. They can call the dugout leadership the three itdiotas
I vote for Chase Utley.
Strasburg and Schezer are the best one/two punch in baseball, time for the media to get off his back. The Nats management needs to learn how to deal with the media. Lots of screwy commends about this game. Hindsight being 20/20, the Nats made the right decision a few years ago with Strasburg, just look at the Mets to see the wrong way to handle a pitching staff. The only thing both teams could have done in the past was go to a 6 man rotation to cut down innings. I think you will see that by a lot of teams next year.
Dumsty is a buffoon
No one is handed better teams and he can’t understand how to manage a bullpen
He is so easy to predict. Just an awful manager.
Madden didn’t do a good job in the playoffs last year, and the Cubs won anyway.
You are right about that. Francona definitely outmanaged him with much less on the mound. It’s getting tiring watching madden try different things all the time
I’m sick of the media putting their spin on everything, there is no real news anymore! Time to shut , Strasburg is a stud.
Phils are making a major mistake in not naming Larry Bowa to the helm. Fiery, experienced, just the guy the Phightin’s deserve!
The Mets announced that they will wait until after ALL other teams hire their manager before finalizing interviews. Sandy commented to the press this morning that “No qualified candidate will accept an interview until they have exhausted all other jobs’ options first” and then he added, “Jeff and Fred think it will play into our team advantage as the final candidate will be so hard up for a job that we won’t have to pay very much.”