Stephen Strasburg Headed For the Disabled List Yet Again

Washington Nationals starting pitcher Stephen Strasburg is headed for the 15-day disabled list after suffering a strained oblique on Saturday. Strasburg had a bad Independence Day as he left the game in just the fourth inning. He had held the San Francisco Giants to just one hit and two walks in his time in the game, but the oblique injury sent Stephen to the showers early. ESPN is reporting that Nationals manager Matt Williams wasn’t sure on a timetable for Strasburg to fully recover.

“Not really. We know it’s 15, so we’ll do what we can in those 15 and see where we’re at. It reacts differently with everybody, and 15 days from now we’ll have a better answer. I know that.”

In the fourth inning Strasburg fielded a ball hit by Buster Posey, and that was when he felt the strain. Yahoo is reporting that Stephen said after the game that he wanted to try to continue, but tossed just three more pitches before he was forced to exit.

“I think I wanted to at least get through the inning and see if we could do something about it, but with how it feels right now I think it was the right move.”

Tanner Roark took over for Strasburg on Saturday and is the most likely candidate to assume his spot in the rotation.

Strasburg has had a rough go of it this season. He missed several weeks with a neck injury, which has limited him to just 13 starts. Stephen has a record of 5-5 with an earned run average of 5.16, which would be good for fourth worst in the National League if he actually had enough innings pitched to qualify.

The former number one overall pick in the 2009 draft was the talk of baseball when he made his debut in 2010. He had a great MLB debut, striking out 14 Pittsburgh Pirates in seven innings of work. By the end of that season, he was on the disabled list with a torn ligament in his right elbow that required Tommy John surgery. Strasburg was only able to make five starts in 2011. He came back in 2012 with a successful season, but was shut down by the team and didn’t pitch in the playoffs, and the Nationals lost in the N.L. Division Series. Now with the two injuries from this season one has to wonder if Strasburg is just injury prone.

Steven Strasburg could become a free agent after the 2016, and he has the talent to draw a huge contract, but what team will be willing to take the chance on him with his injury history?

[Image by Mitchell Layton / Getty Images]