Five innings into his professional career, the war drum is banging for Stephen Strasburg to be on the opening day big league roster for the Washington Nationals.
That would be a terrible mistake on many levels.
First, the Washington Nationals are going to STINK this year. I am a Nats fan, but I am realistic. Even if we improve by 10 wins, we are still in the 90 loss territory.
The Washington Nationals will not magically be catapulted into playoff contention if they manage to put Strasburg in the rotation starting in April. At best, Strasburg might be able to help them cut the amount of losses to 90 if he were in the opening day rotation.
The Building Blocks...like a name for a bad 80's pop band
Second, by calling up Strasburg now, you are going to put an unreasonable amount of expectation and hype on the player starting opening day. The hype isn’t going to dissapear if you send him to the minors, but at least down there he doesn’t come out of the season’s gates with the ’savior’ label on his back.
Letting him get some professional batters under his belt in the minors will help Strasburg acclamate himself better to the big leagues. Minor league hitters at double A and beyond are going to be better and more difficult competition on a consistent basis than anything that Strasburg has seen yet, and he needs that.
Third, leaving him in the minor’s is going to delay his ability to file for arbitration. The clock on his service time will begin ticking the second he is in the major leagues.
Although Strasburg is on the 40-man roster already, that only affects the amount of options that the player has over the course of his first contract. Essentially, it forces the major league team to get the players in the big leagues quicker. What it does not do is affect arbitration eligible status.
By waiting until mid-June, the Nationals can ensure that Strasburg will not get super two status, and will not be able to file arbitration until after his 4th year, instead of his third.
Remember this Dynamic Duo--arm injuries derailed them both
Lastly, Jim Riggleman has had a young pitching phenom before in Kerry Wood. He had Kerry Wood up early in the season and rode him into the ground by pitching him 166.2 innings. The major work load led to arm surgery for Wood, which he never quite returned to his previous form.
Striking out major league hitters is a LOT of work. Not all innings are made the same, so it isn’t a fair barometer to just say he pitched 150 innings, because if one pitcher is throwing 25 pitches an inning and another is throwing 14, the 14 pitches per inning pitcher is throwing less.
My point is that Strasburg should be monitored closely, and hopefully will only throw about 125 big league innings this year, in preparation to anchor next year’s staff with John Lannan.
The Nats have already felt the effects of an arm injury to a prized prospect, Jordan Zimmermann. Every effort has to be made to prevent that from happening again.
Next years opening day roatation could be:
1) John Lannan
2) Stephen Strasburg
3) Jason Marquis
4) Jordan Zimmermann
5) Chien Ming Wang–if he returns to form…if not, Ross Detweiler/Garrett Mock/Free Agent
The future is hopeful. Hopefully, the Nats don’t mess it up.