Rant Preview: Washington Nationals Choose to Continue Pitching Stephen Strasburg

The Washington Nationals have been under the microscope over the last couple of weeks as they have a big decision to make when it comes to Stephen Strasburg and whether or not they should shut down their star pitcher for the rest of the regular season.

As crazy as it sounds, all signs point to Strasburg not pitching during the playoffs as the Nationals want to make sure they don’t overwork their star surgery after missing the entire 2011 season while recovering from Tommy John surgery. Strasburg squares off against the Miami Marlins–a team he has dominated throughout his career–on Tuesday, but it’s difficult not to wonder if Washington should have shut him down by now given their situation.

The Nationals currently have a five-game lead over the Atlanta Braves in the NL East heading into Tuesday–which means the division is their’s to lose over the final month of the regular season. The last thing Washington wants to see happen is Strasburg overusing his arm during a time when the Nationals had a comfortable lead in the division and it would be a shame to see something happen during a time when he wasn’t even needed as much.

Strasburg has been nothing but phenomenal for the month of August (4-0, 1.50 ERA) and as much as fans would love to see him continue his recent hot streak–it would be better for the Nationals to let him just end the year on a high note.

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