Strasburg to Have Tommy John Surgery

MIAMI (AP) - Washington Nationals rookie ace Stephen Strasburg will have Tommy John surgery on Friday to rebuild his injured right elbow, an operation that is expected to sideline him for 12 to 18 months. (WTOP)

Well that did not take long. I am not a Baseball person but I am a fan of the game and reasonably intelligent, and like so many other fans of the game, questioned the Nationals desire to rush Stasburg to the Show. And now we are wondering what will happen. The odds of Stasburg returning to the Nationals is long. The odds of him being the dominant pitcher that he showed over the first few starts are even longer. It is more likely that he will go the way of other phenoms, rushed to the Show and abused for a few good starts, and then sent to the cutter to get fixed, rather than letting them develop their strength and work out some bad habits in their mechanics that inevitably lead to this sort of surgery.

What the Nationals have done is destroy the career of a potentially Hall of Fame pitcher. I hope he invested his salary for this season, because it is unlikely he will ever reach these lofty heights again. And if you doubt me, do the names Kerry Wood and Mark Pryor ring any bells? If they don't then, I have made my point.