Options for Williams if Strasburg can't go

Stephen Strasburg threw only 16 pitches in last night's 5-2 loss to the Reds before leaving the game with neck tightness. Nationals manager Matt Williams indicated to reporters that the discomfort was in Strasburg's left trapezius muscle. Strasburg isn't familiar with this type of pain in this particular area.

"We don't know at this point," Williams told reporters after the game. "We have to see how he is (Saturday) and evaluate. I don't know. It's the other side, so we'll see what he shows up with (Saturday)."

On May 5, Strasburg departed after just three innings when he experienced tightness on the right side of his back. That was described as an alignment issue, and Strasburg headed to the chiropractor for an adjustment, which alleviated the problem.

Strasburg gave up a solo homer to Reds first baseman Joey Votto while facing four batters in the first inning last night.

"I felt good," Strasburg said to reporters after the game. "It was just after the first inning. I kinda just sat down and for some reason it just locked up on me."

He walked Reds catcher Brayan Pena on six pitches to open the second. On the last two offerings, Strasburg was showing obvious discomfort. He began rolling his neck and shrugging his shoulders in an attempt to loosen it up. After a quick consultation with Williams, pitching coach Steve McCatty and head athletic trainer Lee Kuntz, the decision was made to call it a night. The dangerous potential arises in any pain situation for a pitcher to start to overcompensate and change mechanics, which can then present the opportunity for more damaging injuries, possibly in the elbow or shoulder.

Strasburg suffered a sprained left ankle during some conditioning exercises on March 20 which forced him to miss a scheduled exhibition start. There is some thought his latest discomfort is related to lingering effects from the ankle injury. He has now left four of his last five starts before the fourth inning has ended. He was pounded for 26 hits and 20 runs in 16 innings in May. The result was a 1-3 record in five outings with a 10.13 ERA in the month.

"It's frustrating for him," Williams said to reporters.

Strasburg's untimely departures has taxed Williams' relievers. Last night, it was recently recalled right-hander Taylor Jordan who provided four scoreless innings before the Reds tagged him for three costly runs in the sixth.

"What it does for us is it puts us in a position with our bullpen where we don't want to go," Williams told reporters. "The good thing is we got a long guy down there, but we have to try to push him through a number of innings. And (Friday night) was a case where we had to try to get him through the sixth because we can't just blow our bullpen up that way. We don't have another off day for a week."

Williams is already down one starter with Doug Fister on the 15-day disabled list suffering from right forearm tightness. Tanner Roark has jumped back in the starting rotation to fill Fister's spot for the time being. Roark is scheduled to make his second start tomorrow against the Reds in the series finale. If Strasburg's latest setback forces him to the DL, we could see the battle-tested Roark remain in the rotation for the foreseeable future.

Williams could also look toward Jordan as an option, as well as rookie right-hander A.J. Cole. Cole was shelled in his major league debut as a starter on April 28, but he later performed admirably in two long relief appearances in May. After he threw 4 1/3 innings in relief of Strasburg on May 23, Cole was optioned back to Triple-A Syracuse.

Strasburg's spot in the rotation comes up next Wednesday against the Toronto Blue Jays at Nationals Park.