Calf strain forces Strasburg's early exit in loss to Astros (updated)

When Davey Martinez saw Stephen Strasburg's plant leg buckle as he threw a 3-1 curveball to Jose Altuve, he knew something was up. And by the time the Nationals manager reached the mound to confer with his right-hander, he'd already made the decision that Strasburg's second spring training start was over.

"It was really not much of a discussion," Martinez said via Zoom after the Nationals' 5-0 loss to the Astros on Sunday afternoon. "Just wanted to pinpoint exactly what he was feeling. Other than that, he's coming out of the game. I mean, we're in spring training and there's no sense in pushing it."

The Nationals wanted to get Strasburg up to 50-60 pitches against the Astros on Sunday. But a left calf strain short-circuited those plans and forced Strasburg from the game after just 45 pitches.

"After the pitch, I saw him kind of a little bit of a hobble," Martinez said. "His left calf grabbed him a little bit."

Strasburg landed awkwardly on his left leg after throwing a 3-1 curveball for a strike to Jose Altuve with one out in the third. Catcher Yan Gomes immediately headed to the mound and called for the training staff to look at Strasburg as the infielders circled the starter.

The conversation between Strasburg, head athletic trainer Paul Lessard and manager Davey Martinez didn't last very long. The righty walked off the field and was replaced by left-hander T.J. McFarland, who got the final two outs of the frame.

"I didn't really feel it at all, except for that last pitch," Strasburg said during an in-game Zoom session with reporters. "I kind of felt it simultaneously as I was finishing the pitch."

Strasburg said he underwent an ultrasound after an examination by a team physician and doesn't think the calf issue is serious.

"Luckily, the reports and stuff from the doctors (say) nothing major, so it's more of just kind of a precautionary thing. I'll just take it day-to-day and see how it feels tomorrow."

Depending on how he feels tomorrow, Strasburg estimated that he'd to throw a bullpen session before he was cleared to make his third Grapefruit League start.

"It's kind of just something that ... happens, but it's not something that's going to require any sort of long-term recovery. So it's definitely good news."

Had he been pitching in the regular season, Strasburg said he would have gutted through the issue. He's pitch through calf cramping before. But with the Nationals' hopes for a rebound in 2021 resting on their starting pitching, Martinez said there was no reason to risk it.

"Stephen is a tough guy. We know that, in the past, he has pitched with cramps," Martinez said. "But this is something right now that he doesn't need to be out there. We felt that we wanted to get him in and get him looked at."

Martinez's chief concern right now is getting Strasburg healthy enough to remain on the five-day regimen that is supposed to prepare him for the regular season. If the right-hander responds well to treatment, even if he misses a Grapefruit League start, he could be ready to pitch in the first series against the Mets.

"We want to keep these guys on a routine right now," Martinez said. "Hopefully, like I said, he'll feel a little bit better tomorrow. ... If he wakes up tomorrow sore or something, he might be held back. But we'll see what happens tomorrow."

For the day, Strasburg yielded a hit and a walk with four strikeouts in 2 1/3 innings. He threw 25 of his 45 pitches for strikes, and endured a 22-pitch second after dispatching the Astros on 13 pitches in the first. He seemed to have better command of his changeup, after struggling to command the pitch in his initial spring outing, but some deep counts in the second inning ran up his pitch count.

"I thought it was coming out definitely better with the fastball, so that was a good improvement," Strasburg said. "My feel for the changeup was better as well. I feel like a little, definitely rushing with guys on base. Mechanically, I'm trying to set up differently with my glove. So I think it's just more of like getting the reps on that and just knowing I need to let my body get in a good position instead of just kind of jump off the rubber."

After being limited to two starts encompassing just five innings before an injury shelved him during the truncated 2020 campaign, Strasburg had surgery to relieve carpal tunnel neuritis in his throwing hand. He looked good in his first Grapefruit League start on Tuesday against the Astros, allowing no hits and a walk with four strikeouts in 1 2/3 innings.

The bulk of the Astros' runs scored on home runs. Carlos Correa led off the fourth with a solo shot off Brad Hand and Yuli Gurriel hit a two-run homer off Sam Clay in the sixth. Ben Braymer yielded two runs in the eighth. The Nats were limited to six hits, all singles, with Juan Soto getting credit for a pair of infield hits.