Strasburg suffered an injury to his ulnar collateral ligament which required Tommy John surgery and about a year to 18 months of rehab. After pitching some in 2011, he returned full-time in 2012. The Nationals placed an innings limit on him which was rumored to be between 160 and 180 innings. He was pulled from last outing on September 8 and was immediately shutdown for the season. He ended the 2012 season with a 13-6 record, 3.16 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, and 197 strikeouts in 159 1/3 innings. The Nationals have already clinched a playoffs sports and as of this writing are close to clinching the NL East title.
If the Nationals were not in the playoff hunt, this would not even be news. The fact is that the Nationals are in the playoffs and are a strong World Series contender. Without their ace, how far can the Nats go? If they lose early, there will certainly be an uproar over shutting Strasburg down.
This situation reminds me of a similar one in 2006 with the Denver Broncos. Jake Plummer was the QB that year and after leading the team to a 7-2 start, he lost back-to-back games and was replaced by then rookie Jay Cutler. Cutler went 2-3 and the Broncos finished 9-7, losing the tiebreaker to the Kansas City Chiefs for the final playoff spot. The move was met with mixed reactions with some thinking that the switch was ill-advised since Plummer led the team to the AFC Championship the year before. The move that head coach Mike Shanahan made obviously backfired. Who is to day that Plummer could have gotten the team to the playoffs but he stood a better chance than a rookie.
While Washington is already in the playoffs, the questions remained how far can the team go without Strasburg? While the plan is not injure him and preserve his arm, is i worth jeopardizing the team's short-term plans? The Nationals may well make the playoffs and win the World Series in future years but that is a large unknown. Only time will tell if the Strasburg shutdown was worth it.
