Nationals’ starter Stephen Strasburg seems to be nearing his MLB season debut, as he threw 58 pitches over five innings in a rehab game yesterday. Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com relays that Stras is with the big league team and will travel to New York with them as they visit the Mets for a three-game set. From there, he will likely head to Rochester, home of the team’s Triple-A affiliate, to make another rehab start, which could be his last. He hasn’t pitched since June of last year due to undergoing surgery to correct thoracic outlet syndrome.
The retooling Nationals don’t need to be in any rush, as they don’t really have designs on competing this year. After selling off most of their best players last year, they are predictably in the NL East basement with a record of 18-31. With Strasburg, his long-term health and success should be the priority, as the 33-year-old still has four more years on his contract after this one, at $35MM per season. Although a lot of the money is deferred, he’s still set to be the most significant contract on the books as the team aims to return to contention in the coming seasons.
More from around the division…
- Mets’ hurler Tylor Megill is nearing a rehab stint, per Mike Puma of the New York Post. He adds that Megill is only expected to need one or two rehab starts to get back into game shape after going on the IL with biceps inflammation about three weeks ago. When Jacob deGrom went on the IL to start the year, Megill jumped into the rotation and was a valuable steadying force. Now that he and Max Scherzer have joined deGrom on the shelf, the team’s rotation is down to Chris Bassitt, Carlos Carrasco, Taijuan Walker and David Peterson, with Trevor Williams likely to jump back into the mix once needed. The Mets have already been connected to Frankie Montas and Tyler Mahle, two starters who are among the most likely to be dealt and the most sought after. Their aggressiveness in that pursuit between now and the August 2 trade deadline will likely hinge on the health of Megill, deGrom and Scherzer, as its possible the rotation becomes stacked with talent even without a trade.
- As for the Mets’ bullpen, Drew Smith had to exit last night’s game after attempting to field a comebacker with his bare hand and injuring it. Thankfully, it seems like Smith and the Mets have avoided the worst, with post-game X-rays showing a dislocation but no fracture, per Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. Smith has been a nice development for the club over the past couple of years, throwing 62 1/3 innings with a 2.45 ERA since the start of the 2021 season. There’s likely some good fortune in there, considering his .205 BABIP and 90.7% strand rate, but the results have nonetheless been enough for him to be trusted with some leverage, as he’s racked up 12 holds this year already.
Big West Coast trip coming up. If the Mets perform well and earn at least a split, it will be a success. Megill, deGrom, Scherzer will be back (likely in that order) in July. Cohen will make some additions via trade. And the rest of the NL East just keeps beating on each other. You love to see it. LFGM
I actually hope they don’t trade away much in the way of prospects. I want to sustain this success.
100% agreed.
It’s about time we have a real major league manager and also a proper owner.
Most teams would be happy to be down to Chris Bassitt, Carlos Carrasco, Taijuan Walker and David Peterson as a rotation. Mets are loaded for bear this year.
Prior 2.0
That one year Prior went off was one the best pitching performances I’ve ever seen. I was hoping that Wood and Prior would be a nasty 1-2 like Johnson Schilling. The could have beens. What a shame.
Curt Schilling and Pedro Martinez 2004
The Nats need Strasburg back. This season would have looked a lot different if Scherzer had made his 8 starts for the Nationals instead of the Mets. That said, he would not be wearing blue and orange if the Wilpons were still in charge. How different things are from 2021 to 2022.
In that scenario, you’d just be looking for another reason to explain why the Nats are so bad.