Stephen Strasburg Stops Rehab, Faces Uncertain Future With Nats

After helping the Washington Nationals to their only world championship in 2019, Stephen Strasburg signed the biggest free-agent contract in franchise history. It didn’t help.

Plagued by a myriad of injuries, the pitcher has made only eight appearances – working 31 1/3 innings – and may be through at age 34.

According to Jesse Dougherty of The Washington Post, Strasburg has been barred from all physical activity because of severe nerve damage – almost certainly related to the thoracic outlet syndrome that plagued him previously.

That’s terrible news for a former first-in-the-nation draft pick who signed a seven-year, $245 million contract extension during the 2019 winter meetings.

It’s also terrible news for a young team that had shown recent signs of life after languishing at the bottom of the National League East all season.

When Strasburg was healthy, he was among the best pitchers in baseball.

The 6’5″ right-hander led the National League with 18 wins and 208 innings pitched – both career highs – while striking out 251 in 33 regular-season starts for the Nats, who parlayed a wild-card win into a world championship, largely thanks Strasburg.

He posted a 1.98 earned run average in 36 1/3 post-season innings.

A survivor of 2010 Tommy John elbow surgery, Strasburg recovered without any ill effects, posting eight straight spectacular seasons for the Nationals and forming a strong 1-2 punch with veteran Max Scherzer, who had signed with Washington as a free agent. They were together from 2015 to 2021, when Scherzer was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers before he qualified for free agency again. He is now in his second season with the New York Mets.

A three-time All-Star who had been a regular contender for the National League’s Cy Young Award, Strasburg led the league in both starts (34) and strikeouts (242) in 2014. He won at least 15 games in four different seasons, although the team monitored his workload while worrying about his surgically-repaired elbow.

Between 2014 and 2019, he never worked as many as 180 innings in a season.

Earlier this year, the pitcher’s attempt to restart his career backfired. His regimen of light workouts at Nationals Park was limited to lower-body exercises before even that proved too painful.

To make matters worse for the team, Strasburg’s contract does not contain disability insurance, Dougherty reported.

That raises the real possibility that the Nationals could get no return on their investment on the hard-throwing pitcher.

Strasburg’s litany of injuries includes carpal tunnel syndrome, shoulder inflammation, and nerve irritation in his neck in addition to the 2010 elbow surgery and 2022 thoracic outlet syndrome.

Even if he does not pitch, Strasburg is guaranteed $35 million per year by the contract he signed on Dec. 9, 2019. According to Cot’s Contracts, the pact includes a no-trade clause, a hotel suite on road trips, and bonuses for winning the MVP or Cy Young awards during the regular season as well as MVP honors in the League Championship Series or World Series. He would also get bonuses for winning a Gold Glove or being named to the All-Star team.

When signed, it was the largest contract ever given a pitcher in both total value and average annual value. The contract runs through 2026.

He has a lifetime record of 113-62 and an earned run average of 3.24.

With Strasburg sidelined and Scherzer pitching elsewhere, the Nationals have relied on a rotation led by veterans Patrick Corbin and Trevor Williams, both free-agent signee, and youngsters MacKenzie Gore and Josiah Gray.