The Mets had pitch-count guidelines for Johan Santana, then the lefty began to throw his no-hitter on June 1 and, well, so much for the plans.
The Mets infamously had never had a no-hitter. They were in the midst of an unexpectedly positive season. There was a fan base ready to storm Citi Field if Santana were removed. Thus, the emotions of the moment served as an avalanche to wipe out pre-planned, post-shoulder-surgery logic. Manager Terry Collins let Santana throw a career-high 134 pitches.
And if you think that was a difficult choice, then just wait for potentially the most seismic decision of 2012, when the Nationals shut down their ace, Stephen Strasburg.
Strasburg, like Santana, is coming off surgery (Tommy John). But he is just 23. The lack of a no-hitter pales in comparison to not reaching the playoffs in three decades. The Nationals last appeared in the postseason in 1981, when they were the Expos.
Now the moons have aligned for the franchise. The Phillies are down. Bryce Harper is an insta-star. But the Nats are in first place mainly due to an elite rotation in which Strasburg is honoring the otherworldly expectations for him.
The Yankees will miss the fireballer this weekend because Strasburg goes tonight against Toronto. He is 7-1 with a 2.41 ERA. In 71 innings, he has struck out 92, walked 19 and yielded 55 hits. And here is the item that just might matter most — Strasburg’s season is about half over.
Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo has vowed no matter Washington’s standing, Strasburg will be shut down before the end of the season. The expectation is about 160 innings because that was roughly the limit for teammate Jordan Zimmermann (1611⁄3) last year coming off Tommy John surgery.
Rizzo won’t say the number. Actually, he doesn’t want to say much on the subject because it is such a tinderbox, and he knows it is going to explode further later this season. When we talked by phone yesterday and the topic was broached, Rizzo said, “Joel, you are killing me.” Then he promised, “This is the last time I am discussing this with any member of the media. It is well-chronicled. It is not changing.”
Strasburg threw 68 innings as a rookie before his elbow broke and 24 innings late last year just to get back on the mound.
“To ask [Strasburg] to throw 200 innings now [off those previous totals], that is not a prudent way to do business with a 23-year-old, top-of-the-rotation starter we plan to have for a long time,” Rizzo said. “[Shutting him down] is going to be painful, and we are going to take grief. But I will not shy away from it. I am the caretaker of this organization for the long haul.”
Rizzo said there are no plans to artificially restrict Strasburg before then — skip starts, go to a six-man rotation — to assure he can pitch in September and October.
“We don’t want to gimmick this thing up,” Rizzo said.
Translation: Strasburg is going to become a controversial bystander in about eight weeks, renewing debate if pitchers are babied too much these days and whether Rizzo has taken the Nationals’ best chance ever to win and flushed it by being overly cautious.
“The situation hasn’t changed, and it won’t matter where we are in the standings,” Rizzo said. “[Making the call to shut Strasburg down] is not about guts. It is the right thing to do.”
Jeter reborn a year ago
Today is the one-year anniversary of Derek Jeter suffering a calf strain that forced him to the disabled list six hits shy of 3,000. In retrospect, we know that was a blessing in disguise. While recuperating, Jeter got with his personal hitting guru, Gary Denbo, in Tampa and restored his old hitting approach.
From June 13, 2010, to June 13, 2011 — a period of 156 games and 657 at-bats — Jeter had hit .256 with a .652 OPS and an average of an extra-base hit every 20.5 at-bats. But from his July 4 return last year to May 4 this season — a period of 95 games and 398 at-bats — Jeter used the revamped swing to hit with authority again: .352 with an .892 OPS and an extra-base hit every 11.4 at-bats.
However, in his past 33 games Jeter has seemed in need, perhaps, of another Denbo pitstop. Even with a 2-for-5 last night, Jeter is hitting just .248 in that period with a .598 OPS and an average of an extra-base hit every 45.7 at-bats.
Cash: Joba ‘switch’ was never an issue
Around here we are familiar with the Stephen Strasburg-ian-like choice Washington is facing and how angry it can make a decision maker such as Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo. Heck, when I asked Yankees GM Brian Cashman about the Joba Rules yesterday, he was more furious than when it was a hot-button issue.
Cashman stews because he does not like the perception the Yankees’ usage strategy led to Joba Chamberlain’s Tommy John surgery. And hates more what he feels is a distortion of how Chamberlain was deployed. In fact, he used the term “people are so [bleeping] stupid” three times because he feels matters have been twisted to fit a narrative that he does not know what he is doing.
“Joba was a starter his whole amateur career and his first pro season (2007) with us,” Cashman said. “We only brought him up to relieve to finish off the innings he was allowed to throw while trying to help [the major league team]. And we probably don’t make the playoffs in ’07 if we didn’t put him in the pen. But he wasn’t bounced back and forth. And the debate only began because instead of keeping him in the minors hidden as a starter, we tried to win in the majors.”
Cashman also angrily said he believes the Yankees are held to a higher standard on this matter. He noted most organizations — such as the Nationals with Jordan Zimmermann and Strasburg, and the Mariners with Michael Pineda — shut down young starters when they have reached a prescribed innings cap.
In addition, he has noticed that there have been other clubs who have failed with their Joba-esque issues without nearly the same national furor. For example, the Red Sox tried to switch successful reliever Daniel Bard to the rotation this year and it failed to such an extent Bard is back in the minors. And Texas tried to convert closer Neftali Feliz to the rotation and the righty sprained an elbow ligament and is out for an extended period.
“You have to do what you think is right,” Cashman said. “If you feel you have Secretariat, you won’t run him into the ground when you feel you have a special horse. You make sure you protect the asset. If you treat the asset like [his health] doesn’t matter in the short term, there will be no long term.”
By the way, Chamberlain (ankle/elbow) is throwing bullpen sessions and jogging lightly. Cashman said Chamberlain is “clearing all the hurdles” to be able to return and help the Yankees this year.