Nationals again left to solve rotation without Strasburg

Anytime during his 11-year career Stephen Strasburg has looked as bad as he did Tuesday night in St. Louis, when he was rocked for eight runs in five innings with diminished velocity, erratic command and poor body language, the right-hander has proven either to be injured or tipping his pitches.

Turns out he was injured after all.

The Nationals placed Strasburg on the 10-day injured list this morning with right shoulder inflammation, a transaction loaded with ramifications, the most immediate being his inability to start today's series finale against the Diamondbacks as scheduled. Instead it'll be right-hander Paolo Espino, promoted from the alternate training site in Fredericksburg to make an emergency start in Strasburg's place.

In the short term, it makes for an annoying scramble for the organization, which is forced to start a 34-year-old journeyman in today's game at Nationals Park. In the long term, it makes for a lot of hand-wringing and concern about Strasburg's ability to get right after barely pitching last season due to carpal tunnel neuritis in his wrist and now landing on the IL again only two starts into this season.

"We knew coming in our concerns were a little bit with Joe Ross and Stephen not pitching at all (in 2020)," manager Davey Martinez said during his pregame Zoom session with reporters. "I thought eventually we were going to have to give both him and Ross time. I didn't think it was going to be this early. I hope we can nip this in the bud as soon as possible, and that we get him back as soon as possible. We've got a whole year in front of us. This is only the beginning. We've got plenty of time."

This morning's decision to place Strasburg on the IL came five days after his disastrous start against the Cardinals, in which his fastball barely topped 90 mph, his command was off and his mechanics looked out of whack. He also was spotted by a St. Louis-based dugout camera rubbing his right shoulder in the tunnel between innings, a clip that was broadcast by both teams' networks and drew the ire of both Strasburg and Martinez afterward.

Despite all those red flags, though, Strasburg and Martinez insisted there was no injury concern that night. "I just threw a lot of poor pitches," Strasburg said after the game. "And they made me pay for it."

Strasburg, who declined to speak to reporters today, played catch at Busch Stadium the day after his start and threw a normal bullpen session later in the week when the team returned to Nationals Park. The day after that, he informed the club his shoulder was bothering him.

"We talked to him after the game, and he said he felt fine," Martinez said. "He went through his regular routine this whole week, and after his bullpen - which he threw well - he said he didn't feel right. That was an indication we needed to get him checked out."

Strasburg underwent an MRI, which revealed inflammation in the shoulder, and the Nationals made the decision to place him on the 10-day IL. They are setting no timetable for his return yet, but he will be shut down for some period of time, after which he'll need to build his arm back up before he can pitch in a big league game.

"When we get Stephen back, we need to get him back right, so we have him for the rest of the year," Martinez said. "For me, it's been a crazy start of the year, from the beginning. We've got to start looking at some of this stuff and the possibility of some of these things happening. It's unfortunate, but we've got to move on. We've got to play today."

They'll play today with Espino on the mound, both because the right-hander is able to provide innings (he threw 85 pitches in a simulated game at the Fredericksburg camp earlier in the week) and because he was on schedule to pitch today as opposed to some other options like Rogelio Armenteros and Ben Braymer.

The club decided not to go with Austin Voth, who has been a starter throughout his career but is just now getting used to pitching out of the bullpen and made back-to-back, one-inning appearances Tuesday and Wednesday.

"We often talked about with him - and when (Erick) Fedde was in the bullpen - as using those guys as bullpen pieces for us, especially now that our starters haven't gone deep. I didn't want to do that to Austin. But he knows if we need him today, he'll be a guy that comes in and can give us a few innings if needed."

All of this is happening as the Nationals also are trying to figure out what's wrong with Patrick Corbin, who has been shaky in both of his starts and lasted only two innings against the Diamondbacks on Thursday. The left-hander looked better during a bullpen session Saturday, and for now he's scheduled to start Tuesday against the Cardinals.

Jon Lester, meanwhile, is due to make a second start in a simulated game in Fredericksburg on Tuesday, building up to five innings and 80-85 pitches.

"We definitely feel like we have depth down there that can help us out," Martinez said. "This spring training was tough. If I could keep 35 guys, I would've kept a lot of guys happy. But we could only keep 26. But Espino was one of those guys. He pitched well. I liked him last year when he came up, and now he's going to get an opportunity to start here for us and hopefully keep us in the ballgame."

The injury bug also has struck the Nationals bullpen, which has now lost Wander Suero to a strained left oblique muscle. Suero, who pitched in eight of the team's first 12 games, grabbed his left side during the top of the ninth Saturday and departed the game. An MRI revealed the strain, which the club hopes isn't serious but at minimum will sideline him several weeks.

"I talked to Wander today," Martinez said. "He said he doesn't feel that bad. Typically, when you can't breathe, it's a severe strain. He said he's breathing fine with no pain. Hopefully with this stint on the IL and building him back up, we'll get him back as soon as possible."