He succeeded in signing a mega contract with the honor of winning the World Series, but after that, he fell into a swamp of endless injuries.
This is the story of Washington Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg. Strasburg, who is aiming for a comeback this season, was caught up in another injury ahead of spring camp.
MLB.com, the official homepage of Major League Baseball, announced on the 16th (Korean time) that Strasburg recently developed nerve problems due to the aftereffects of thoracic outlet syndrome while pitching in the bullpen. This prevented Strasberg from joining the first day of training, which began at Washington spring camp in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Already in his 4th year suffering from injuries. Strasburg, who joined Washington with the first overall pick in the 2009 draft, debuted in the big leagues in 2010. He won 15 games in 2012, and posted double-digit multipliers six consecutive years from 2014 to 2019.
In 2019, he pitched 209 innings in 33 games, going 18-6 with a 3.32 earned run average. He continued to play an active role in the postseason, leading Washington to its first World Series victory with an ERA of 1.98 with an undefeated record of 5 wins in 6 games. He won the series MVP in the World Series with 2 wins in 2 games.
Although he has only filled the regulation innings (162 innings) due to injury in four seasons, he has achieved good results with excellent pitches. In particular, in 2019, he recorded an average ERA of 18-6 and 3.32, and won two wins in the Houston and World Series and won the series MVP.
Strasburg signed a seven-year, $175 million 안전놀이터(approximately 226 billion won) extension during the 2016 season, including opt-outs in the third and fourth years. After winning the World Series in 2019, he declared opt-out and succeeded in signing a much better deal with Washington for 7 years and 245 million dollars (approximately 316.5 billion won).
However, Strasburg is on the run with injuries after signing a jackpot. The 2020 season, the first year of his contract, was shortened due to corona, but Strasburg only appeared in two games due to a wrist injury. He went 2 games and 1 loss, giving up 6 runs in 5 innings with an earned run average of 10.80.
In the 2021 season, he pitched in 5 games, went 1-2 with a 4.57 earned run average and was injured again. He was unable to pitch due to thoracic outlet syndrome. Thoracic outlet syndrome is a disease that causes pain, numbness, and numbness in both arms due to pressure on blood vessels and nerves below the collarbone by structures above the ribcage.
He underwent surgery and returned in June of last year, but was beaten with 4⅔ innings and 7 runs (average ERA of 13.50) against Miami, the match before his return. And then it was out of season. In the end, after the contract, he only pitched 31⅓ innings in 8 games for 3 seasons.
He hoped for a comeback this season, but another thoracic outlet syndrome was discovered. Washington manager Dave Martinez said, “I know fans want to see Strasburg throw again, but health is an issue.”