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With Stras out, Nats need lift from fellow starters
- Updated: September 9, 2016
The Washington Nationals are going to win the National League East with or without Stephen Strasburg. They entered Friday’s game against the Phillies with an eight-game cushion, and the rest of their rotation has substantial talent.
An MRI exam on Thursday revealed that Strasburg had a strained flexor mass in his right arm. There is no specific timetable for his return.
But with the beginning of the National League Division Series now less than one month away, the issue of Strasburg’s availability for the postseason remains open. And it would be in the postseason where he would be missed the most.
The Nats’ talent level is not a debatable item. In 2012, they had the best record in the Majors (98-64). In ’14, they had the best record in the NL (96-66).
What the Nationals don’t have, yet, is a postseason series victory. It is more than slightly ironic that Strasburg missed the 2012 postseason because the Nats shut him down in early September as a precautionary move to protect him from a work overload in his first full season returning from Tommy John surgery.
As the season now stands, the Nationals, with the second-best record in the NL, would open the postseason at home against the team with the NL’s third-best record, the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers have their own ace, Clayton Kershaw, coming back from nearly 2 1/2 months on the …
