Strasburg playing it cautious with forearm "achiness"

PHOENIX - Stephen Strasburg has been through enough in eight seasons in the big leagues to have felt just about every possible ache and pain in just about every possible part of his body when he pitches. Perhaps he has dealt with more ailments than most, but if nothing else, that has helped him recognize which ailments he needs to worry about and which ones he does not.

So if you want to interpret Strasburg's explanation for his early departure today during the Nationals' 6-2 victory over the Diamondbacks, pay attention to the way he described the achiness he felt in his forearm and where his priorities now lie.

"I've had so much stuff happen (in my career)," he said. "Just trying not to be selfish out there. I'm not really helping the team if I'm going out there and continually throwing through these things. I just want to be there at the end. That's like the ultimate goal this year. And if getting pulled after a couple innings today, if that's going to put me in a better position to be there, I'll take it."

Both Strasburg and manager Dusty Baker used the word "precaution" several times to explain the decision to remove the right-hander from the game after only two innings and 51 pitches, with the Nationals leading 5-0 at the time.

Strasburg's velocity was fine, but his command was a bit off; he walked three of the first nine batters he faced. He also never looked 100 percent comfortable on the Chase Field mound, shaking his arm a few times (though, as Baker noted, that's not uncommon for him).

"He couldn't get loose," Baker said. "We saw he kept shaking his arm. So we just took him out for precaution. He's had a little stiffness, couldn't really get loose even though he was throwing the ball well. So we'll analyze it when we get back home. He'll see our doctors, and hopefully we'll have an answer on Tuesday."

Strasburg said he dealt with a similar ailment during his last start in Cincinnati, even though he allowed one run in seven innings and struck out 11. He described the feeling as "just a little achiness" and attributed it to the fact his routine was thrown off during the All-Star break.

"I think I wake up in the morning, it's a little stiff," he said. "Then I get throwing and stuff, and it feels OK. And then it's like I really kind of reach back for it, and that's where it starts to linger and start to feel a little achy."

Any issue with Strasburg's arm naturally causes alarm bells to ring for anyone who has followed his career, from the Tommy John surgery that brought his rookie season to an abrupt halt to the various ailments that have prevented him from throwing 200 innings in all but one season.

Perhaps the alarm bells will be valid in this case. Perhaps Monday's exam in Washington will prompt doctors to order an MRI for Strasburg. And perhaps that will show something that prevents him from making his next start at the end of the week.

But for now, we can only trust what Strasburg says, trusting that over a career filled with ailments both big and small he has learned when to worry. And right now, he's not worried.

"I think it's something I can work through," he said. "I think that's kind of why I just feel like this was a good decision today. Not let it get any worse, address it and clear it out in time for my next spot in the rotation."

Reliever Enny Romero also had to leave today's game, plagued by back spasms during the seventh inning.

Romero, one of five relievers who churned out seven innings after Strasburg's departure, impressed in pitching out of a jam in the bottom of the sixth, then had two outs in the bottom of the seventh before walking Paul Goldschmidt. He departed alongside head athletic trainer Paul Lessard after that, complaining of back spasms.

"I feel better now, but when I was throwing to Goldschmidt, the last few pitches, my back tightened up a little bit," Romero said through interpreter Octavio Martinez. "Especially the last two, I really felt it. I just felt like I couldn't continue, so I decided not to."

Romero spent time on the disabled list last year with the Rays due to a lower back strain. At this point, he doesn't foresee a similar outcome.

"I don't think so," he said. "I think maybe rest tomorrow, and I want to see Tuesday. I want to throw first, and talk to them."