Braves vs. Chiefs - Strasburg AAA Start #1

[PANatsFan]

The best thing long term for the Nats is to have Strasburg and Storen in AA till June.  This team can be solid next year, but what about in year 3, 4, 5, 6....thats gonna be when you want Strasburg under your control for an extra year.

The control date has passed. Any extra time is for development and or monetary reasons.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

It is painful to watch how good he is and not see him here, taking a turn every 5th day.  But this season is about conditioning.  6 innings or 85 pitches may be his limit in order to stretch his innings into September.  They probably do view minor league innings as less stressful than majors, and really think that, developmentally, if he were brought up now, his 15 -20 MLB starts would not stretch into September.  I'm guessing the plan for him is to have him make 30 - 35 starts this year at all levels.  The stint in the minors is almost like extra spring training and conditioning.

[Smithian]

Er on the side of caution with this one. I'd rather him work on conditioning and inning limits down there instead of having a circus here like the Yankees did with Joba Chamberlain.

[blue911]

He one hit they guys that weren't good enough to be one hit by Jamie freaking Moyer.

[Salamander Man]

The control date has passed. Any extra time is for development and or monetary reasons.

I apologize.  I meant to say to avoid super 2 status.

[R-Zim#11]

I just watched the game -- I ended up DVRing it last night. That slurve Strasburg has is unhittable. It was put into play once -- a very weak ground out to the SS.

What's amazing was how hard the ball was hit off Beachball after Strasburg was taken out.

I was laughing at the Braves hitters just flailing at Strasburg's curveball. Amazing.

[PANatsFan]

I apologize.  I meant to say to avoid super 2 status.

It's all good. Just trying to help   Thanks for contributing!

[tomterp]

I'm sure they have marked on some calendar in the FO the day he is going to pitch (wish I was a fly on the wall in that office) and they aren't going to stray from their "perfect plan" for him.

Bowden says the Nats front office is divided on whether to bring him up real soon, or stick to the original plan of avoiding Super 2 status by bringing him up in June. 

[Potomac Cannons]

Bowden says the Nats front office is divided on whether to bring him up real soon, or stick to the original plan of avoiding Super 2 status by bringing him up in June. 

I'm starting to think 5/22 against the Blo's is going to be the date.  If he puts up 2 more very good to dominating starts he'll be here by that series and still probably avoid the Super 2 status.  The only way that doesn't happen is if Rizzo is tracking days/percentage of likely rookies and June still looks like a necessary bet.

[NatsDad14]

I'm starting to think 5/22 against the Blo's is going to be the date.  If he puts up 2 more very good to dominating starts he'll be here by that series and still probably avoid the Super 2 status.  The only way that doesn't happen is if Rizzo is tracking days/percentage of likely rookies and June still looks like a necessary bet.

If he's up there, the team has to send him down early because I think there is a lot of truth to the 100 IP limit in the big leagues.

[RL04]

Man, Stras looked really good that night.

I said it once and I'll say it again: it is ri-f'n'-diculous this guy is still boring himself in the minors.

Ability-wise I agree with you 1,000%.

The only reason he's still in the minors (until June) is for eventual financial repercussions.  
That's it.

[tomterp]

If he's up there, the team has to send him down early because I think there is a lot of truth to the 100 IP limit in the big leagues.

Will Carroll (BP) with comments on Lannan's elbow, Strasburg, and the rotational situation:

The Nationals are trying to hold together their pitching staff. Losing John Lannan isn't that big a talent hit, but there's a point where the lack of depth in the organization is going to combine with a need to protect a couple of their young pitchers. One of those is, of course, Stephen Strasburg. One interesting thing that is out there, from both Peter Gammons and Jon Heyman, is that there is a handshake agreement to keep Strasburg at or under 100 innings. Strasburg has already gone are 22 innings in Double-A, but do the Nationals count those on his overall innings total? We can expect about the same as he shifts up to Triple-A, so does that mean he'll really have 60 or so innings—eight or nine good starts—or does the counter begin at the major-league level? A total of 140 innings at all levels isn't a big jump for him after his college workload. Oh yeah, we were talking about Lannan. He had a cortisone shot in his pitching elbow to calm down an inflamed flexor tendon. Images showed no strain, but tendons don't swell for no reason. They'll try to get him back out there, but the Nats are going to have to watch the waiver wire closely to find pitching to get them through this season, putting them in an odd position of being out of contention, but possible buyers of some innings eaters at the deadline.

[JMUalumni]

the Nats are going to have to watch the waiver wire closely to find pitching to get them through this season

Really?  I think the team would be content on throwing guys like Chico, JD Martin, Luis Atilano, Aaron Thompson and maybe someone like Chuck James out there before they started looking at the waiver wire for major league pitchers.  Even if you try out each one of those guys and each one fails, that would get you to somewhere around mid-June when you have guys like Wang, Detwiler, and Zimmermann coming back.  If you get failure out of those 7 or 8 guys AND Lannan and Marquis are still injured, then maybe they will come to a point where the waiver wire becomes an option, but I don't see them really finding any better options on the waiver wire than all those guys.  I may be misguided, but they seem to have pretty good depth for the rotation this season, full of guys that can at least be serviceable at the MLB level and if not guys that will be willing to step up.

[Kevrock]

Man, Stras looked really good that night.



Ability-wise I agree with you 1,000%.

The only reason he's still in the minors (until June) is for eventual financial repercussions.  
That's it.

Arm injury implications.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

JMU - Carroll probably would regret what he said if he read your note.  Yes, there should be a concern about several of the pitchers, but the one thing this organization has is fungible fourth / fifth starters.

[PANatsFan]

How about Carroll's idiotic statement that the Nats, 1 game out of the WC, are out of contention?

[RL04]

Arm injury implications.

Sorry, don't follow.  What does a possible arm injury have to do with pitching in the minors vs. being in the majors?

[RL04]

Really?  I think the team would be content on throwing guys like Chico, JD Martin, Luis Atilano, Aaron Thompson and maybe someone like Chuck James out there before they started looking at the waiver wire for major league pitchers.  Even if you try out each one of those guys and each one fails, that would get you to somewhere around mid-June when you have guys like Wang, Detwiler, and Zimmermann coming back.

Agree.

We have enough starting (and relief) pitching to get us through til then.

But we're not hitting.

Ya can't live on 3-2 games forever.

[Kevrock]

Sorry, don't follow.  What does a possible arm injury have to do with pitching in the minors vs. being in the majors?

Pitchers who are called up too soon while they are adjusting to a five day pitching schedule are frequently injured.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100417&content_id=9370438

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/may/06/prior-to-strasburg-been-there-done-that/


Also, since this came up:

"Ideally," said Rizzo, "we'd like to keep Strasburg at about 140-150 innings this year. Then maybe 170 next year. By 2012, he should be ready for the 200-innings load."

[tomterp]

Sorry, don't follow.  What does a possible arm injury have to do with pitching in the minors vs. being in the majors?

It seems counterintuitive, but innings pitched in the minors seem almost not to count when compared to innings pitched in the majors.  Or at least, are much less of a factor.  Adrenaline?   Will Carroll (Baseball Prospectus) did a short piece on this observed phenomenon last year.

[Kevrock]

Will Carroll (Baseball Prospectus) did a short piece on this observed phenomenon last year.

Would love to read it if you come across it again.

[blue911]

It seems counterintuitive, but innings pitched in the minors seem almost not to count when compared to innings pitched in the majors.  Or at least, are much less of a factor.  Adrenaline?   Will Carroll (Baseball Prospectus) did a short piece on this observed phenomenon last year.

Pitching from the stretch versus from the wind up. Strasburg's minor league innings are meaningless. The only reasons to keep him down are to build up his pitch count and keep him away from Super 2.