The question draws a light-hearted chuckle from Stephen Strasburg, who leans forward in the chair in front of his locker on a sleepy Sunday morning in the Washington Nationals clubhouse.
The next day will mark the two-year anniversary of his team-imposed shutdown, he is told. Two years to the day since his season was cut short as a precaution after Tommy John surgery, just one month before the first playoff game in Washington since 1933. Two years to the day since he stood in front of this same locker and tried to accept the organization’s decision, even as the frustration within him swelled.
Strasburg clasps his hands together and stares straight ahead. How does he feel now, looking back on that moment?
“I haven’t really thought about it,” he says. “It’s all in the past.”
Strasburg prefers to focus on the present. Entering Wednesday’s start against the Atlanta Braves, the right-hander has pitched 189 innings this season, a career-high, and recorded 215 strikeouts, the most in the National League. He has gotten better as the season has progressed, with four quality starts in his past five outings and winning decisions in four of his past seven starts.
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As the Nationals close in on a second division title, it has become easy to draw parallels between their memorable 2012 campaign and this one. But for Strasburg, much is different now.
“I’ve definitely learned a lot,” he said. “I think I’ve probably grown a little bit more mentally, and physically. I think the same could be said for anybody, just more years under their belt and more experience. You kind of just learn what makes you successful, and what doesn’t.”
When general manager Mike Rizzo pulled the plug on Strasburg’s 2012 season after 159 1/3 innings, it was merely part of a rehabilitation strategy he has used with every pitcher in the organization that has had elbow-ligament replacement surgery. The move was standard procedure in Rizzo’s eyes, but with the playoffs in sight, it drew widespread criticism, sparking a national debate over Strasburg’s long-term health and short-term value in a pennant race.
The decision also did not sit well with the ace himself.
“You don’t grow up dreaming of playing in the big leagues to get shut down when the games start to matter,” Strasburg said on Sept. 8, 2012, later adding: “It sucks.”
Since then, Strasburg, now 26, has been relatively healthy and made 30 starts in consecutive seasons. And Rizzo continues to stand by his decision.
“We are very pleased with how Stras is doing. We still feel his best days are ahead of him,” Rizzo said. “If you look at what we’ve done in the past with [Jordan] Zimmermann, Strasburg, [2012 first-round pick Lucas] Giolito and several other pitchers here, we like the results of our protocol and our plan.”
With each passing season, Strasburg said he, like any pitcher, has gained experience and become more comfortable. He has learned more about the tendencies of some hitters, as well as how to better pick up the tendencies of others. He has added, and since abandoned, a new slider and fine-tuned the other pitches in his repertoire.
The change most evident to Strasburg’s teammates, meanwhile, has been psychological.
“I think it’s more like he’s enjoying himself now,” fellow starter Gio Gonzalez said. “The first couple of years, it was tough with the fact that he wanted to I guess be Mr. Perfect. And now he’s starting to understand that hey, it’s baseball. You’re going to give up some hits. You’re going to give up a couple runs. It’s how you bounce back, how you pitch, how you make that adjustment to a certain hitter, and I think he’s doing a great job with that.”
Wilson Ramos said he and Strasburg recently had a conversation about the importance of attacking hitters, an area in which the Nationals catcher said Strasburg has improved dramatically this season.
While Strasburg will still occasionally become discouraged on the mound, Ramos said those moments are now rare. “He’s always head up, give me the ball, throw it,” Ramos said.
“I think in years past, he used to let the little things bother him,” Zimmermann added. “This year, and last year a little bit, if errors happen, he just brushes it off and pretty much tells them, ’I’ll pick you guys up and we’ll get out of this.’ He doesn’t react to the little things that bother some pitchers.”
From a statistical standpoint, Strasburg’s stuff is as dominant as ever. Since the beginning of the 2012 season, he has struck out more batters per nine innings (10.21) than anyone in the NL, with 27.9 percent of opponents’ plate appearances ending in Ks. He has also induced a higher percentage of swinging strikes during that span than all but three NL pitchers, according to FanGraphs.com.
Strasburg is rounding into form just in time for his first trip to the playoffs. Though he was still around the team during the 2012 National League Division Series, he hasn’t pitched in a postseason baseball game since his final season at San Diego State in 2009, when he struck out 15 batters with no walks but shouldered the loss in an NCAA Regional game.
“Whenever he pitches, I’m excited,” Rizzo said, “and if it were to be playoff baseball, I’ll be doubly excited.”
As he has neared and surpassed career-high marks in innings and starts, Strasburg said he has altered his routine between outings, throwing fewer pitches in bullpen and long-toss sessions in an attempt to preserve his arm. He is still working to perfect his arsenal of pitches, still studying his opponents and learning about himself.
Memories of the shutdown are long in the past and, in his mind, forgotten.
• Tom Schad can be reached at tschad@washingtontimes.com.
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