2015 has been a year to forget for Washington Nationals starting pitcher Stephen Strasburg, and his season took a turn for the worse Friday night. Strasburg exited the team's game against the Cincinnati Reds with a neck injury after just one full inning, and he's since been placed on the disabled list.
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Strasburg Placed on 15-Day DL
Saturday, May 30
Kyle Brostowitz of MLB.com reported that Strasburg was placed on the 15-day DL with neck tightness. Right-handed pitcher Taylor Hill was recalled to the majors, according to Brostowitz. Dan Kolko of MASN reported that the team is "perplexed" as to the cause of the tightness.
Kolko noted that the Nats hope their ace will only be on the DL for the minimum of 15 days, but that they need to figure out the cause of the issue. "Could be a result of mechanics getting thrown off from spring ankle sprain. But the fact this back/neck issue is on left side is confusing," Kolko wrote.
On May 29, William Ladson of MLB.com reported Strasburg has neck muscle tightness.
ESPN Stats and Info noted that the DL stint is the fourth in Strasburg's young career, and that while one was for Tommy John surgery, each of the others saw him out for at least 20 days.
The 26-year-old is currently mired in a dreadful start. Entering Friday, he was 3-5 in nine starts with a 6.50 earned run average. According to FanGraphs, he had a 3.64 FIP, which showed that his ERA is somewhat deceiving. ESPN's Buster Olney also presented stats signifying that the Nationals' poor defense was having a major effect on Strasburg's performance:
Still, he's striking out fewer batters per nine innings while allowing more walks and home runs than he did last year.
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