The nerve problem in Stephen Strasburg’s wrist that ended his 2020 season after five innings would get worse every time he threw a baseball, he said Sunday, and “would in fact go from numbness in my thumb to numbness in my entire hand.”
When he first spoke to reporters before closing in August, the Washington Nationals ace said the problem cleared up immediately after the 15-minute carpal tunnel surgery.
The 2019 World Series MVP started preparing for this season much earlier than usual, with a light catch on November 1 instead of mid-December, and throwing bullpens in early January instead of late in the month.
“Stamina, stamina, I feel like I’m a lot further than I did [been] in recent years, “the right-handed starter explained.” I wanted to give myself some extra time to process some mechanical stuff and be ready to get started on day one. “
He was: the 32-year-old threw a mound off the ground next to teammates during Friday’s practice.
“He’s one of our workhorses. And it was hard to see him out there. But for me, if he ever got hurt and ever solved a problem, last year would have been the right time,” said manager Dave Martinez. “I’m glad he made it, and I’m glad he feels great.”
Strasburg said the stop-start nature of last year’s pandemic-stricken schedule – spring training was stopped in March and teams resumed preparations in July – was hard on his arm.
There was a period of uncertainty as to when the so-called “summer camp” would start, so Strasbourg threw in a net to try and stay ready.
When things picked up again, the numbness first surfaced.
“If I knew it would start when it happened, I certainly wouldn’t have picked up baseball for a while,” he said. “It hurt me more than helped me in the end.”
Game notes
Martinez said SS Trea Turner could “potentially” shift from leadoff to number 2 or 3 in the lineup. “We have a lot of different setups, different numbers, talking to some of our analytical people. Frankly, I’d love to [CF Victor] Robles at the top of the line-up, even if only against left-handed pitching. “… The Nationals would like to avoid the kind of bad start they managed to overcome in 2019 (19-31), so how do they do that Martinez said he could ask positioners for seven, eight or nine innings of the last 10 days of practice games to play. “I want these guys to be ready May 1 by April 1,” he said.