Stephen Strasburg headed back to DL with left oblique strain
After leaving his start early on Saturday afternoon with tightness in his left side, Washington Nationals right-hander Stephen Strasburg was officially placed on the disabled list Sunday with a strained left oblique.
It’s already the second DL stint for the 26-year-old Strasburg. He was making his third start off the disabled list on Saturday after missing three weeks with neck and back tightness. He’d looked healthy and effective since his return, allowing just two earned runs in 15 2/3 innings. However, one wrong move seems to have created an entirely new issue.
Strasburg suffered the strain while making a move to field Buster Posey’s ground ball in the fourth inning. He came up holding his left side and wincing, but remained in the game to throw three additional pitches. Nationals manager Matt Williams and the team’s athletic trainer eventually came out to talk to Strasburg and ultimately removed him from the game.
“I think I wanted to at least get through the inning and see if we could do something about,” Strasburg explained following the game, “but with how it feels right now I think it was the right move.”
There’s no initial timetable for Strasburg’s return. With the All-Star break coming up, that gives the Nationals some flexibility to work around the injury. However, given the unpredictable nature of oblique injuries, there’s no telling how much time he’ll need to recover.
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In the mean time, they’ve recalled Taylor Jordan to fill his roster spot.
Tanner Roark, who would already be starting for several teams around MLB, will move from long reliever into the rotation. In five starts this season, he’s 3-0 with a 3.86 ERA.
As for Strasburg, his talent remains unquestioned. It’s just a matter of staying healthy, and when healthy, staying consistent. The former is of much greater concern to Washington right now though, and it will be quite interesting to see how much of an impact he can have on their postseason push.
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Townie813
