Nats prized pitcher nears recovery phase
For several weeks earlier this month, Nationals rookie pitcher Stephen Strasburg found himself in a kind of purgatory.
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He was back home in San Diego, far from his teammates at Nationals Park as Washington’s season continued without him. But he also was waiting to undergo Tommy John surgery on Sept. 3 in Los Angeles to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. Then it was a few more weeks before the cast finally came off his injured arm.
There is a long rehabilitation road yet for Strasburg. But soon he can take the baby steps that should eventually carry him back to the major leagues.
“I think the hardest part was that period of being back [in San Diego] and waiting for the surgery,” Strasburg said in a conference call with reporters Tuesday — the first time he’s spoken since his surgery. “Once it was over it was definitely a sense of relief and I knew that everything was fixed and every single day I was getting closer to getting back out there.”
A workout fanatic, Strasburg has already begun range-of-motion exercises and said he is also doing core work and using an elliptical machine to stay in shape.
“I know [Strasburg] is going to rehab like a monster and put his full effort into it,” Nats general manager Mike Rizzo said. “He’s a hungry player and he’s a hungry player that’s going to work extremely hard.”
Teammates and friends who have undergone Tommy John surgery, including Nats pitcher Jordan Zimmermann, have given Strasburg advice on the rehab process. He admitted that patience was a necessity– even if that’s not necessarily his nature. So despite the injury, how does he assess his first 12 big league starts?
“I’m chalking it up as a great season,” Strasburg said. “I stirred up the baseball world well enough that had more people becoming Nats fans. And I know they’re going to be there when I come back in a year. I’m going to work as hard as I possibly can to get back out there and show everybody what I bring to the table.”
