Terrible idea to start Strasburg Opening Day

[tomterp]

He need to go on Opening Day because I will be there. It's all about me.

Seriously, this team has never come close to contending. It would be a tad presumptous to hold him out for the playoff run.

Better to get there with him, but not have him in the playoffs than to not get there at all because you were saving innings along the way.

[DPMOmaha]

It's not unheard of for teams to manipulate their rotation to have their ace throw the home opener, so I don't think it would have been a huge deal if Davey and co. did that, but I think generally, it makes sense to start your best on day 1.  For a team like the Nats, getting off to as fast a start as possible will be important.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

The opening day starter probably will get the most rest between starts.  the only open date between 4/5 and 4/21 is 4/6.  With one spot start by detwiler on 4/16, Strasburg could have 5 days rest between his first 4 starts.  This pencils out to 4/5, 4/11, 4/17, and 4/23.  Does not mess up any of the other rotation regulars.

[Nat of the Living Dead]

Starting Strasburg on Opening Day was the most "duh" decision ever. I can't believe there was even any debate about it.

[Galah]

The opening day starter probably will get the most rest between starts.  the only open date between 4/5 and 4/21 is 4/6.  With one spot start by detwiler on 4/16, Strasburg could have 5 days rest between his first 4 starts.  This pencils out to 4/5, 4/11, 4/17, and 4/23.  Does not mess up any of the other rotation regulars.

except there's no game on 4/23

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Galah, you are right. So it is his first 3 starts, not 4, that he could get an extra days rest. 

So, 4/5 (road), 4/11 (@Mets), 4/17 (Hou), 4/22 (Mia), 4/28 (@LAD), 5/4 (Phi).  5 days rest every time except 4/22, at home, against a division opponent.

This lines up perfectly if 4/16 is a spot start.  If it isn't, he may miss Philly at Nats Park. 

[JMUalumni]

A sure fire way of increasing a pitcher's risk of injury is messing with his schedule or routine.  In my opinion, THAT is the terrible idea.  And sure I think it is great that people can think of the playoffs as a possibility at least, but it is more important to focus on getting there first before we start making plans for October.

[Kevrock]

Starting Strasburg on Opening Day was the most "duh" decision ever. I can't believe there was even any debate about it.

Yeah. But there was plenty of debate on here.

[Slateman]

Personally, I think it should go to Jordan Zimmermann as a reward for all the hard work and performance he put in last year

[Kevrock]

Or John Lannan, for all the hard work he's put in the past several years.

[spidernat]

[JCA-CrystalCity]

JMU - how much is messing with his schedule to start him on one extra day's rest most of the first month of the year?  It's not like skipping starts or shutting him down.

[Nat of the Living Dead]

Yeah. But there was plenty of debate on here.

I remember the years we threw out John Lannan or Livan Hernandez as Opening Day starters against actual real Opening Day starters on other teams. Slightly embarrassing. And didn't we tag Odalis Perez that one season?

Please join me in hoping the team never does it again.

[RL04]

I thought Davey said St. Stephen would be third in the rotation?

[JMUalumni]

JMU - how much is messing with his schedule to start him on one extra day's rest most of the first month of the year?  It's not like skipping starts or shutting him down.

JCA, I should have clarified.  I was referring to the general ideas of shutting him down for a few weeks at the beginning of the season or having him skip starts during the season to "preserve" him for a possible but more than unlikely playoff appearance.  I'm fine with having him get an extra day of rest here and there.  What I meant is that the Nats should pitch him as they would normally without an innings limit until he reaches whatever limit they have set.

[nats2playoffs]

I remember the years we threw out John Lannan or Livan Hernandez as Opening Day starters against actual real Opening Day starters on other teams. Slightly embarrassing. And didn't we tag Odalis Perez that one season?

Please join me in hoping the team never does it again.

X [Signed]

[imref]

Just a reminder, the Nats are 1-6 on opening day.  Here's the list of starters (results) from wikipedia:

2005    Liván Hernández    L    4–8    Philadelphia Phillies    Citizens Bank Park    44,080    [6]
2006    Liván Hernández (2)    L    2–3    New York Mets    Shea Stadium    54,371    [7]
2007    John Patterson    L    2–9    Florida Marlins    Robert F. Kennedy Stadium    40,389    [8][9]
2008    Odalis Pérez    ND (W)    3–2    Atlanta Braves    Nationals Park    39,389    [5][10]
2009    John Lannan    L    6–12    Florida Marlins    Dolphin Stadium    34,323    [3]
2010    John Lannan (2)    L    1–11    Philadelphia Phillies    Nationals Park    41,290    [4]
2011    Liván Hernández (3)    L    0–2    Atlanta Braves    Nationals Park    39,055    [11]

Strasburg is so much better than these guys it isn't even funny.

[imref]

I remember the years we threw out John Lannan or Livan Hernandez as Opening Day starters against actual real Opening Day starters on other teams. Slightly embarrassing. And didn't we tag Odalis Perez that one season?

Our only winning OD pitcher!

[JCA-CrystalCity]

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/7726953/a-comparison-stephen-strasburg-greg-maddux-pitching-mechanics-espn-magazine

That was a side bar to the main story
http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/7712916/tommy-john-surgery-keeps-pitchers-game-address-underlying-biomechanical-flaw-espn-magazine

[Kevrock]

There's several thing wrong with that second article, but I don't have much time right now.

Arm lag and improper sequencing were likely to blame for Strasburg's UCL tear, as well as for those of almost everyone else knocked out by the injury. "The timing is subtle," says the American Sports Medicine Institute's Glenn Fleisig, who has analyzed more than 2,000 pitchers and is one of the world's foremost authorities on pitching biomechanics. "It's the difference between good and great and healthy and injury-waiting-to-happen."

Is Fleisig talking specifically about Strasburg or about timing in general? He doesn't name Strasburg. Did he analyse Strasburg on his own time? ASMI doesn't reveal analysis results from clients. Perplexing quote.

"The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." -- multiple biomechanics experts interviewed for this story

Huh. Most of the experts she names in the article don't address Strasburg specifically. It's kind of a hodgepodge of theories about pitching without getting too specific and without any of the experts speaking specifically about Stras.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

The hook here for the major article is Strasburg, but the analytical stuff is, as you say, more general. The specific deconstruction of his motion is in the first article. 

I do wonder why the first article did not compare his motion to righty power pitchers like Clemens or Ryan, who were supposed to have proper mechanics.  The article leads me to think that the reason Maddux had an ideal motion was because he sacrificed velocity, which is not the point the author was trying to make.  Show me someone whose velocity picked up once his motion was straightened out, then i'd be impressed.

[Kevrock]

True -- typically the experts compare to Ryan, who is the poster-child for efficient mechanics.

I'm a bit perplexed by the first article. It seems to contradict the article I always quote about Strasburg's mechanics, written by Thorburn who is part of the NPA with Tom House (http://www.baseballdailydigest.com/2010/06/10/stras-wars-ii-the-prior-strikes-back/)

[PC]

The fact that Maddux was a soft-tosser had nothing to do with it?  When you're barely touching 90MPH, it's not tough to not have arm problems.



And whatever he's doing here, hardly looks textbook.

[Kevrock]

Well, he was around 93 his first couple seasons and it went down from there. But sure... Why compare to a short non-power pitcher given the other options?

[PC]

I do wonder why the first article did not compare his motion to righty power pitchers like Clemens or Ryan, who were supposed to have proper mechanics.

Because their mechanics probably weren't as clean as they'd like us to believe and a lot more Strasburgian than want to admit to.