Washington Nationals Legend Stephen Strasburg Is Planning To Retire

I feel like there will be many people who will claim that Stephen Strasburg's career was something of a disappointment relative to expectations. It's hard for me to vibe with that, considering that the expectations were astronomically high. To call Strasburg a phenom is an understatement. His debut in 2010 was among the most electric we've ever seen. Top prospects get called up all the time, but there was something different about Strasburg. For one, his stuff was unbelievable. Much like recent 2023 number 1 pick Paul Skenes, Strasburg was close to a finished project right out of college. His debut was truly the first great moment in Washington Nationals history. He had all the makings of a future Cy Young winner, then the injury bug reared its ugly head. 

The way the Nationals handled Strasburg was bizarre. Their decision to shut him down after exceeding his innings limit in 2012 was met with a lot of controversy, and rightfully so. I can't recall a single instance in baseball history in which a team shut down a healthy player during a pennant chase to save his future. There's a chance that may have cost the Nats a championship in 2012. For years, that decision was frowned upon. It seemed as though the Nationals doomed their best chance at a championship by leaving Strasburg in the dugout. Then, 2019 happened, and it changed everything. 2019 was the best version of Stephen Strasburg. He stayed healthy the entire year and led the league in wins and innings pitched. He helped what was once a 19-32 Natonals team to the postseason. When he got to the postseason, he became a legend.

Stephen Strasburg may not as expansive a sample size as someone like Madison Bumgarner has. Still, if we're just talking about ERA, Stephen Strasburg was the best October pitcher of a generation. He finished his career with a 1.46 ERA in nine postseason appearances, but it was the 2019 campaign that changed everything. In six postseason outings in 2019, Stephen Strasburg was 5-0 with a 1.98 ERA. He won World Series MVP that season as well, largely because he was fantastic against an Astros lineup that, to this day, I think is one of the greatest in baseball history.

Did Stephen Strasburg live up to the hype? Relative to expectations, no. He didn't become the multi-time Cy Young winner many expected. He may not have been an MLB legend, but his career was a massive success. Even with the injury history, every Nationals fan would've taken the career that he had. He was a multi-time All-Star. He was nails in October, and he brought the Nats their first and only championship. It's ironic that the man who was shut down for the postseason in 2012 ultimately derailed his career by pitching a ton of innings in the postseason in 2019. He'd do it all over again, as would Nationals fans.