Monday, December 20, 2010

Strasburg rehab update

Stephen Strasburg just held a brief conference call with beat writers to update everyone on his rehab from Tommy John surgery. No major news to report here; he's basically right on schedule with things.

Strasburg continues to go through plenty of strength and conditioning workouts, with an emphasis on building up his shoulder so as not to overcompensate as he returns from the elbow injury. He's scheduled to be examined by orthopedist Lewis Yocum (who performed the surgery on September 3) shortly after Christmas. Assuming he gets the green light from Yocum, Strasburg hopes to begin throwing for the first time sometime in late January at his home in San Diego. He will then report to spring training in Viera, Fla., with all the other pitchers and catchers in mid-February.

Here are some of the highlights from Strasburg's conference call...

Q: How is the rehab going and do you know when you'll be able to start throwing?
"It's going great right now. I've been making big strides with just total body strength. I'm going to go see [Dr.] Yocum right after the Christmas holiday, and he should give me a better indication of when I'm allowed to start throwing. I'm a little out of three months from surgery. Everything feels great. I'm just waiting for them to tell me
when I can start throwing."

Q: What kind of exercises are you doing at this point?
"I've got a great program here. It's really targeting my lower body, my back, my core. And then when I go into physical therapy, [I have] all the shoulder work that guys who have rotator cuff surgery and labrum surgery have, plus all the elbow stuff. So I'm in here about 2-3 hours three times a week. It definitely was really hard starting out, but it's gotten a lot easier, that's for sure."

Q: What's the thinking behind doing shoulder work?
"They've found that a lot of cases early on when they were only targeting rehabbing and strengthening the elbow, that the shoulder was the next thing to go. It was often overlooked that the shoulder was getting just as much rest as the elbow through this, and it was getting weaker. We don't want that to happen, obviously, so we're strengthening up everything, so when I do get a chance to go, I'm going to be in top shape, honestly, probably a lot better shape than I ever was."

Q: Do you know when you'll report to Viera, and will you start throwing there or back home in San Diego?
"The plan right now is I'm going to start my initial throwing here with the physical therapist I've been working with all offseason. So I should hopefully, barring no setbacks, I should have a few weeks of throwing before I go out to spring training and meet up when pitchers and catchers report."

Q: How anxious are you to pick up a ball and start throwing again? It has to be frustrating not to be able to do that.
"Yeah, it is. My body feels great. They told me that going into the way the surgery went and how successful it was. Their job right now is to try to push me back and keep me at bay. It's hard. It's probably the longest time in my entire baseball career where I haven't been able to throw a baseball. I trust in what Dr. Yocum has says and what my physical therapist says and what [Nationals head trainer] Lee Kuntz says, because they've been through it before."

Q: It's still early in the process, but as far as you're concerned, you're right on schedule?
"They're not going to say that I'm ahead of schedule, because they don't want to get my hopes up. But physically, I feel great. They say I'm on track. I don't really know an exact timeline of what will happen yet. I'm just taking it week-by-week and trying to get stronger every single day."

Q: What do you think about the moves the Nationals have made this winter?
"It's great to see the organization active in the offseason. It's sad at the same time to see that some of the guys on the team last year aren't going to be there next year. We had a great squad, great camaraderie. It's going to be interesting. But at the same time, I'm excited to get out to spring training and get to know all these new guys."

24 comments:

Rob Dibble said...

Suck it up, Straws. Rehabbing is for the weak - quit being such a girly-man and throw the dang baseball.

Brian R. said...

"[Dr.] Yocum"
Interesting, in a recent interview he said "Mr. Rizzo" but he doesn't say "Dr. Yocum"?

Mr Donkey said...

Dibble - from broadcaster to internet troll in one season!

Huzzah

Doc said...

Dibs never changes--or at least his impersonators don't!

It'd be nice to think that Nats trainers and pitching coaches pass on some of SS's experience to the other pitchers coming up. There's a lot of elbow/shoulder injuries that can be lessened through specific exercise.

Souldrummer said...

@Rob Dibble
"Think Nasty!" Strasburg.

Rob, what pitcher do you think the Nationals should acquire? Who's the nastiest boy on the free agent or trade market?

Rob Dibble said...

@Souldrummer

Is Ugueth Urbina available?

natsfan1a said...

The real Dibble is inimitable. Accept no substitutes...

Sec314 said...

Why didn't he mention his 5k?

souldrummer said...

@Rob Dibble
Could you give me a scouting report on Mr. Urbina? He is a former Expos/Nationals great? I seem to recall him having some legal trouble. By the way, how's the shirt business going? Didn't see any of those at Nats Park when you were here. Thought if you had something like that your faithful followers would wear them.

Stranded_in_Philly said...

The Ugy Urbina references come out! Awesome!

SonnyG10 said...

Mark, Thanks for the update on Strasburg. I enjoyed it.

Doc said...

Yeah neat Mark!

I remember back when the original Tommy John 'victim' came back in service, Pete Rose was quoted as saying, "...its OK that he got his elbow repaired, but did they have to give him a new one...".

My guess is that SS will come back stronger than ever. He's a determined kid, with a great career to pursue. Can't wait for that first game!!!

slopitchtom said...

Ugueth Urtain Urbina to be precise.

NatBiscuit said...

Mark, don't know if you'll rise to the bait since you work for a televised media outlet now, but I suspect I can tell which questions above were asked by television types versus paper trained journalists.

"How anxious are you...", tell us you're on schedule, and "What do you think..." sound like questions designed to elicit a specific response for television versus what kind of exercises, what is the thinking behind that, and when are you reporting questions that seem more likely crafted by someone who has to write.

Sometime (now would be good) it would be interesting to read about your views in the evolution of sports coverage. So tell us Mark, just how exciting is that?

NatBiscuit said...

P.S.,

Absolutely no disrespect intended. Serious question with attempted humor thrown in....

Anonymous8 said...

Mark, has Strasburg been talking to Jordan Zimmermann as his "TJ" mentor?

David said...

just thinking out loud.... you don't trade desmond this year. i think after another season (or two?), with slightly improved offensive numbers, (15 hr's, 70 rbi's) and less errors, his value will skyrocket. and then lombardozzi has the time to get ready at 2B.

Anonymous8 said...

http://www.lidom.com.do/index.php/noticias/323/61/Omar-Luna-y-Yunesky-Maya-escogidos-en-la-premiacion-Pelotero-Estrella-de-la-Semana

Yunesky Maya was the pitching star of the week in the Dominican League!

Big Cat said...

I remember what Jordon Zimmerman said. That when you first start throwing again you will say "Gosh, I'm healed" But you're not. The command isn't there. So take it slow big fella. We are gonna need you in 12 when we make a serious push

Will said...

I'm not sure his offensive numbers will improve, as our offense is currently worse than it was last year. Desmond frequently batted 7th (and several times batted 6th) in the lineup, in which he had some on-base machines just ahead of him. It's easy to rack up RBIs when you've got Zimm, Dunn and Willingham's near .400 OBPs getting on base in front of you. Though, Pudge's infatuation with the GIDP didn't help much. I suppose his average could increase, but he'll need to cut down on strikeouts before it does, and his walk-rate must increase. But I think that task will be a bit more difficult next year, especially considering he's got to deal with the inevitable "sophomore slump," where pitchers have a better idea of what your weaknesses are and how to exploit them.

I do agree his defensive numbers will improve, simply because Dunn's positional ability and glove won't be there, but I think most GMs already recognize the fact that Desmond isn't as bad as his numbers would suggest.

In the end, it's not a bad idea to wait it out a year to see which of Espinosa and Desmond shows greater potential, but I think what we saw from Desmond last year is a pretty good indicator of what we'll get from him in future years.

Paul said...

Did Mr. Strasburg really do an interview without mentioning his 5k? Well done.

Souldrummer said...

@Anonymous8
The bad news is that Maya got lit up in his last start. I think 5 runs, 3 of them earned in 2IP.

MGG said...

Hearing this about SS is awesome news to me, BUT what I really want to know is what's going on with 1B?!?! are we getting Lee for 1 year now and going to push next off season to get Prince Fielder! Say its true Mark!

NatsJack in Florida said...

Unless Prince Fielder gets and uses a P90X program, I don't want any part of him.

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