Strasburg likely needs Tommy John surgery

[Maxman]

WASHINGTON (AP)

The Washington Nationals say star rookie Stephen Strasburg has a "significant tear" in his elbow ligament and probably will have Tommy John surgery.

General manager Mike Rizzo said Friday that an enhanced MRI taken a day earlier revealed the extent of the injury to the right elbow.

MLB STANDINGS

As pennant races heat up, keep track of which team is leading each division. The 22-year-old right-hander will travel to the West Coast for a second opinion. But Rizzo says he anticipates Strasburg will require surgery, ruling him out for 12 to 18 months.

The news brings an abrupt halt to Strasburg's promising first season. He struck out 14 batters in his major league debut in June. Strasburg is 5-3 with a 2.91 ERA and 92 strikeouts in 68 innings..

Strasburg was pulled from Saturday's game at Philadelphia when he grimaced and shook his wrist after throwing a changeup. An MRI on Sunday confirmed the initial diagnosis of a strained flexor tendon in his forearm, but the test raised enough questions for the Nationals to order a more extensive MRI that uses an injection of dye into the arm.

Strasburg, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2009 draft, was placed on the 15-day disabled list Monday, the second time he's been sidelined in less than a month. This latest setback come in his third start since returning from the DL because of inflammation in the back of his right shoulder.

''The thing with Stephen, he was in my office yesterday saying, 'I could pitch tonight, I feel great,''' Riggleman said. ''But you never know. Jordan Zimmermann last year felt like he could pitch through the whole situation, and it wasn't to be.''

Zimmermann, another premier prospect, ended up having elbow ligament replacement surgery. He happened to be making his first start in the majors in more than a year Thursday night against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Another bit of happenstance: Thursday was the day the Nationals introduced Strasburg's successor as the No. 1 overall pick, 17-year-old slugger-to-be Bryce Harper.

Strasburg is 5-3 with a 2.91 ERA and 92 strikeouts in 68 innings with the Nationals and has thrown 123 1-3 innings total in the majors and minors this season. The Nationals were hoping he would throw 160 innings this year.

[Greenranger]

Well thats typical of this team. He's done.

[NIGHT STALKER]

Well thats typical of this team. He's done.

I would hope he's not done. TJ surgery has come a long way and many pitchers come back from it...he has youth on his side to properly rehab.

[SenorGato]

Called it months ago...it was pretty obvious...He'll be back in 2012 as a better overall pitcher IMO.

[PFSIKH]

He should be fine. I wonder if Dibble wants to retract his statement now?

Tommy John surgery now is not as bad as it was during NSDQ's time.

I remember listeniing to one team's doctor on a show and he suggested teams should do tommy john surgery on young prospects because the ligament used is much stronger then the normal elbow ligament. He said this will never happen due to the lost time.

[SenorGato]

^^ There's been alot of stories of HS kids who get TJ surgery for that very reason. The lost time is somewhat of a big deal, but no one's scared of TJ anymore.

[Scott Dierking]

^^ There's been alot of stories of HS kids who get TJ surgery for that very reason. The lost time is somewhat of a big deal, but no one's scared of TJ anymore.

My son is 10 and I am considering the surgery for him

[Greenranger]

Something will go wrong. When it comes to luck this team is worse than the Jets.

[Lil Bit Special]

Something will go wrong. When it comes to luck this team is worse than the Jets.

They still have many years of ineptitude in front of them to become worse than the jets!

[Lil Bit Special]

This sucks for the Nats.

This sucks for Strasburg.

And this really sucks for baseball. Kid really energized the sport for a few weeks. Hope he makes a full recovery.

[Morrissey]

Almost every pitcher the Yankees drafted the last 5 years has had TJ surgery. (Sarcasm, but not far from the truth) It's become a pretty standard surgery. He'll be fine in the long run, unless his it was his delivery that caused this.

[Morrissey]

This sucks for the Nats.

This sucks for Strasburg.

And this really sucks for baseball. Kid really energized the sport for a few weeks. Hope he makes a full recovery.

Personally I thought ESPN made it bigger than it really was... plenty of pitchers have came on the scene and dominated. He just so happened to be the #1 pick in the first MLB draft ever televised.

[Lil Bit Special]

Personally I thought ESPN made it bigger than it really was... plenty of pitchers have came on the scene and dominated. He just so happened to be the #1 pick in the first MLB draft ever televised.

It was the perfect storm. Lousy team. Amazing pitcher. ESPN being ESPN.

If he was a prospect on another team, would he have made the meteoric rise he had?

[Scott Dierking]

Personally I thought ESPN made it bigger than it really was... plenty of pitchers have came on the scene and dominated. He just so happened to be the #1 pick in the first MLB draft ever televised.

And there you have it, and that is good for mlb.

MLB has FINALLY begun to market itself a little more in line with the times (MLB network, endorsing the stars of the game, putting focus on the draft).

For the better part of several decades, mlb shunned its own players, and even went to extremes to denigrate the stars of the game.

Is Strasberg hyped? Of course! But he also delivered (in a very short period time), what no other had done (in terms of K's).

This is good for baseball. The other major sports do it to a greater degree.

[Scott Dierking]

It was the perfect storm. Lousy team. Amazing pitcher. ESPN being ESPN.

If he was a prospect on another team, would he have made the meteoric rise he had?

He was a phenom that was on everyones radar at SD State.

[Lil Bit Special]

He was a phenom that was on everyones radar at SD State.

But would have another team brought him up this year? Obviously the Mets would cause our pitching sucks!

[NIGHT STALKER]

He should be fine. I wonder if Dibble wants to retract his statement now?

Tommy John surgery now is not as bad as it was during NSDQ's time.

I remember listeniing to one team's doctor on a show and he suggested teams should do tommy john surgery on young prospects because the ligament used is much stronger then the normal elbow ligament. He said this will never happen due to the lost time.

Do you have to constantly remind me and everyone else how old I am...

[Maxman]

My son is 10 and I am considering the surgery for him

My 7 year old has already had it in both elbows. And he doesn't even play baseball. You can just never be too safe.

[SenorGato]

Prediction on post injury scouting report:

Fastball – 92-95 consistently, can/will hit higher velocities. We’ll probably see more two seamers.

Change up – Improved or scrapped for a splitter…probably 84-88.

Breaking ball – Probably still more like a curveball…78-82.

My guess is that he has a bit more meat on him, that he irons out mechanically, and he still becomes an ace.

[Morrissey]

But would have another team brought him up this year? Obviously the Mets would cause our pitching sucks!

Strasburg wasn't rushed. He's a 22 year old college pitcher, who dominated each level in the minors and earned a spot on the Major League roster. I'm pretty confident he had a innings limit this season, unfortunately he was never able to reach it.

[Sharrow]

I would have been surprised if this didn't happen to him eventually.

[Maxman]

I would have been surprised if this didn't happen to him eventually.

So soon though, I was surprised by that. I know people said he was an injury waiting to happen but this is just brutal.