News and Analysis: Stephen Strasburg Shutdown
News and Analysis Paper 1
Socio 19109
Devon Jones
SUMMARY
The Washington Post news article, “Stephen Strasburg Shutdown” discussed the Washington nationals decision that manager mike Rizzo made prior to the season start to shut down the former number 1 pick, there ace Stephen Strasburg after he reached the 160 innings pitch mark no matter where they were in the postseason race, they were shutting him down for the remainder of the season. This created controversy around the sports world for the whole year of 2012 and is still being talked about on sports talk shows today. The nationals finished the regular season with the best record in the major leagues and a lot of that success was because of #37. He carried the pitching staff all year with a stellar 15-6 record with a 3.16 earned run average while leading the national league in strikeouts. Also he was the frontrunner for the CY young award which is the best pitcher in there respected leagues (American/National). Strasburg was shut down at 159.1 innings pitched, writers and sports experts everywhere were appalled by Rizzo’s controversial decision he made that he knew would affect the team in the postseason, the managers reasoning for this was a very valid point, Strasburg had tommy john surgery in 2011 which is basically reconstruction of the tendons in your elbow which takes about 16-18 months to recover from. Stephen was back after 14 months which was extraordinary for someone that threw as hard as he does clocking out at 102 mph. “he’s the most talented pitcher of our decade and he just came off elbow surgery at 23 years old. We need to conserve his arm for the future so we can contend with him as our ace for years to come” Rizzo explained to the media who had been heckling him with questions for the whole offseason. The fans, Players, even Strasburg hated this idea. This postseason the nationals were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs overmatched 3-2 in the series by the St. Louis Cardinals
Socio 19109
Devon Jones
SUMMARY
The Washington Post news article, “Stephen Strasburg Shutdown” discussed the Washington nationals decision that manager mike Rizzo made prior to the season start to shut down the former number 1 pick, there ace Stephen Strasburg after he reached the 160 innings pitch mark no matter where they were in the postseason race, they were shutting him down for the remainder of the season. This created controversy around the sports world for the whole year of 2012 and is still being talked about on sports talk shows today. The nationals finished the regular season with the best record in the major leagues and a lot of that success was because of #37. He carried the pitching staff all year with a stellar 15-6 record with a 3.16 earned run average while leading the national league in strikeouts. Also he was the frontrunner for the CY young award which is the best pitcher in there respected leagues (American/National). Strasburg was shut down at 159.1 innings pitched, writers and sports experts everywhere were appalled by Rizzo’s controversial decision he made that he knew would affect the team in the postseason, the managers reasoning for this was a very valid point, Strasburg had tommy john surgery in 2011 which is basically reconstruction of the tendons in your elbow which takes about 16-18 months to recover from. Stephen was back after 14 months which was extraordinary for someone that threw as hard as he does clocking out at 102 mph. “he’s the most talented pitcher of our decade and he just came off elbow surgery at 23 years old. We need to conserve his arm for the future so we can contend with him as our ace for years to come” Rizzo explained to the media who had been heckling him with questions for the whole offseason. The fans, Players, even Strasburg hated this idea. This postseason the nationals were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs overmatched 3-2 in the series by the St. Louis Cardinals