The nervous problem in Stephen Strasburg’s wrist, which ended the 2020 season after five innings, would worsen every time he threw a baseball, he said on Sunday, and “it would practically go from numbness in the thumb to numbness. in my whole hand ”.
Speaking to reporters for the first time since he was imprisoned in August, the Washington Nationals ace said the problem disappeared immediately after the 15-minute operation of the carpal tunnel.
The 2019 World Series MVP started preparing for this season much earlier than usual, making a light catch on November 1 instead of mid-December and throwing bullpens in early January instead of the end of the month.
“In terms of endurance, endurance, I feel that I am much further than I did [been] in the past years, “the right-handed starter explained.” I wanted to give myself some extra time to work on a few mechanical things and be ready to go on the first day. “
That was: The 32-year-old threw a mound with his teammates during training on Friday.
“He’s one of our workhorses. And not seeing him there was hard. But for me, if he ever got hurt and ever solved a problem, last year would have been the time,” said manager Dave Martinez. “I’m glad he solved it and I’m glad he feels great.”
Strasburg said the stop-start nature of the program affected by last year’s pandemic – spring training was halted in March, then teams resumed training in July – was tough on his arm.
There was a period of uncertainty about when the so-called “summer camp” would start, so Strasburg would throw in a net to try to stay ready.
When things resumed, numbness came to the surface.
“If I knew it was going to start when it started, I certainly wouldn’t have taken a baseball for a while,” he said. “It ended up hurting me more than it helped me.”
Game notes
Martinez said SS Trea Turner “possibly” could move remotely to No. 2 or 3 in the range. “We run a lot of different lines, different numbers, talking to a lot of analytics. Honestly, I would like to receive [CF Victor] Robles up at the top of the lineup, even if it’s just against left-handed pitching. “… The national team would like to avoid the kind of weak start they managed to overcome in 2019 (19-31), as Martinez said he could ask position players to play seven, eight or nine innings in the last 10 days of exhibition games. “I want these guys to be ready by May 1st, come April 1st,” he said.