Weight of the World on his Elbow

Stephen Strasburg's journey to be the savior of professional baseball in DC seems over before it ever truly started. After an abbreviated rookie season that saw unbelievable numbers both on the diamond (92 strikeouts in 68 innings) and at the ticket counters, Strasburg will have season (this and next) ending Tommy John surgery.

With this kid in the fold and this year's number 1 pick as well, things were starting to look up for the former Montreal Expos. A franchise which has been largely a joke since the strike-shortened 1994 season where they had the best record in baseball when the season was called off. But Strasburg was supposed to be the start of a real turnaround in DC.

I'm not trying to say that all is lost. But with a 12-18 month rehab staring him in the face, Strasburg will not suit up again for Washington until at least 2012. And it will take him some time to get his rhythm back so we may even be looking at 2013. But let's face facts, rarely is a pitcher as good as he was prior to the surgery. Those 100 mph fastballs may simply be gone along with the ligament in his elbow.

One has to wonder if the weight of the expectation got too much for the kid and he was out there overthrowing every day, trying to prove to everyone that he was the next great thing. There must have been no injury indicators in his pre-draft workouts otherwise he never would have been the number 1 pick. So it begs the question of how a kid who seemed to have no injury issues suddenly get a worn shoulder (which earlier landed him on the DL) and now a blow elbow. I'm reminded of Pedro Martinez from the 1999 All-Star game. He was so hyped pitching at Fenway and striking out all 6 batter he faced (almost on 18 pitches) that he was damaged for the rest of the season.

For the sake of the Nationals, baseball fans, and Stephen Strasburg himself, I hope that he will recover and come back to fulfill the promise he showed this season. Unfortunately for him, his performance this season has shown what he is capable of when he is at his best. Anything less will be considered a disappointment whenever he retakes an MLB field in the future to the DC faithful. More pressure on a kid who already had too much.