The Washington Nationals were expecting to enter the season without the services of starting pitcher Stephen Strasburg, who has been sidelined due to thoracic outlet syndrome, a condition that required him to undergo surgery. Nationals manager Dave Martinez spoke about expectations for the three-time All-Star, stating that the team will be pleased with whatever innings they get out of Strasburg in 2022- and that they won't rush him into a return. However, general manager Mike Rizzo spoke about the starting pitcher's recovery on Wednesday and offered a very optimistic update on his potential return, as reported by Matt Weyrich of NBC Sports Washington.
Nationals GM Mike Rizzo said on @JunksRadio this morning that Stephen Strasburg has tweaked his delivery to put less pressure on his arm. He said it was a “possibility” that Stras would return by May 1 but didn’t want to put a timeline on it.
— Matt Weyrich (@ByMattWeyrich) April 6, 2022
While scaring every Nationals fan with the word ‘tweaked', Weyrich provided a key update via the Nationals GM, who said that Strasburg changed his delivery in an effort to put less stress on his arm.
In a shocking development, Rizzo said that the Nationals hurler could possibly return by May 1. He was unwilling to put a timeline on Strasburg, but the fact that the veteran starter could have a chance of missing only one month of action has to be exciting for Washington fans.
Strasburg, who is slated to face live hitters this week, hasn't pitched a full season since 2019, when he finished fifth in the Cy Young voting and helped lead the Nationals to a World Series title, winning the series MVP in the process.
Washington will still take things slow with Strasburg, though it's hard not to be optimistic about him returning sooner rather than later after this update.
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