Mechanics, not ruptured calf tendon, on Strasburg's mind

Stephen Strasburg was on the mound in a Grapefruit League game, 10 days since he departed his last such appearance with what, believe it or not, was a ruptured tendon in his left calf. And he threw 83 pitches while showing no obvious lingering effects of an injury that isn't nearly as serious as it sounds.

Those are positive developments for the right-hander and the Nationals, who have no reason to worry at this point he won't be ready when the season begins next week.

"He feels good," manager Davey Martinez said during his postgame Zoom session tonight. "No issues with his arm, no issues with his calf. He's healthy."

Now, about Strasburg's actual pitching performance this evening in West Palm Beach, Fla. ...

It was not a vintage Strasburg performance. He walked five Astros batters in four-plus innings. He struck out one. He induced only two swings-and-misses.

So what should we make of all of that in total on a Wednesday night in late March, a game the Nationals wound up losing 11-8, despite leading 8-0 after two innings?

"Biggest thing is, I got my pitches in," Strasburg said. "I wasn't very efficient with it. But the biggest goal is to build up and to be able to go out there and throw 100-plus pitches from the start. And then really just make adjustments from there."

As far as the Nationals are concerned, the only thing that really mattered tonight was the fact Strasburg was healthy and built up his pitch count to a number that puts him right on track to reach the century mark when he makes his regular season debut next weekend against the Mets.

Strasburg had not faced an opposing hitter since he hurt his left calf delivering a pitch in the third inning of his March 14 start at The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches, also against this Astros club. Initially described as a muscle strain, the actual diagnosis sounded far more ominous: a ruptured plantaris tendon.

Frightening as that may have sounded at first, Strasburg was quickly assured it wasn't a big deal and didn't even need to be repaired.

"The doctor was pretty adamant about it, said if we still walked on all fours, you might need it," Strasburg said with a laugh. "But you don't need it anymore."

Sure enough, the veteran right-hander was able to resume throwing a couple days later with no issues. He went on to make his next scheduled start on turn, though in a simulated game against teammates, making for a more controlled environment and less chance for problems. He proceeded to throw the equivalent of five innings on 74 pitches, so plans were made to get him back in a Grapefruit League contest.

That happened tonight, and the results were mixed.

Strasburg struggled to put away hitters the way he usually does, with three of his walks coming after he got ahead 0-2 or 1-2 in the count. His lone strikeout came in the third when he got Yordan Alvarez to whiff at a changeup after four consecutive foul balls.

The issue: poor mechanics.

"Just flying open," he said. "My head's flying open. It's definitely something I've done before. I'm just trying to slow myself down a little bit, let myself pitch more."

Despite all that, Strasburg took the mound for the top of the fifth with a pitch count of 69 and an opportunity to complete his final inning before calling it a night. But he proceeded to walk both Martín Maldonado and Jose Altuve on seven-pitch plate appearances. And with his pitch count all the way up to 83 (only 44 of them strikes), Martinez made his way to the mound and asked for the ball.

Strasburg will have one more tune-up before the season begins. If he stays on a five-day schedule, he would pitch Monday's Grapefruit League finale (once again versus these same Astros) and would then be lined up to start either April 3 or 4 against the Mets in the season's opening series.

This may not turn out to be the kind of drama-free spring he hoped to enjoy following an injury-plagued 2020 season. But after 11 years in the big leagues, Strasburg has learned not to stress over how he feels at the end of March. Not when the primary goal is to feel great at the end of October.

"It's gonna be what it's gonna be," he said. "I'm doing everything in between to get ready for the season. Like I touched on earlier, when you've done this for many years, you always see teams that come hot out of the gate, and a lot of them seem to fade in the second half. You really just have to look big picture and try to take it one month at a time, not just one start, and continue to build and hopefully peak at the right time when the games really matter in the second half."