The Washington Nationals are set to receive a massive boost on Thursday when ace Stephen Strasburg will make his 2022 MLB debut. After missing the first two months of the season while recovering from thoracic outlet syndrome, for which he underwent surgery in July of 2021. After 11 months away from an MLB mound, Strasburg will return to the rubber on Thursday against the San Francisco Giants, and MLB insider Jon Morosi detailed how Davey Martinez and the Nationals are planning to utilize him in his season debut.
Two of the generation's best hurlers are coming back 👀@jonmorosi has the latest on the imminent returns of Stephen Strasburg and Clayton Kershaw.@LaurenShehadi | #MLBCentral pic.twitter.com/XUmYlpvXHm
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) June 9, 2022
The Nationals have been cautious with Strasburg, expressing a willingness to bring him back slowly. Considering they're sitting at 21-37, it makes sense that the team would feel no pressure to rush him back. He's worked his way through the minor leagues during what has been a lengthy rehab assignment, tossing impressive outings at every stop along the way.
Having had ample time to work back up to full strength, Morosi indicates that Martinez doesn't plan to have any restrictions on Strasburg due to the nature of his build-up. A five or six-inning outing from Strasburg is certainly within the realm of possibility, especially if he is able to get off to a solid start, and he could approach 80-100 pitches.
Since winning the World Series with Washington in 2019, injuries have derailed Strasburg's career. He's pitched just 26.2 innings since the start of the 2020 season. He registered a total of 5.0 innings on the mound in 2020 before getting shut down with an injury, and only pitched 21.2 innings in 2021 before his season was ruled over. His last full season of work came in 2019 when he logged a 3.32 ERA with 251 strikeouts across 209.0 innings, winning a National League-best 18 games.
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