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US Presswire photo Stephen Strasburg will now make his final spring training start Saturday. |
spring training start back one day. Originally scheduled to face the Marlins tomorrow night, Strasburg will now go up against the Cardinals Saturday afternoon at Space Coast Stadium.The rationale: Strasburg was going to get an extra day of rest at some point before the April 5 opener at Wrigley Field. And since he's scheduled to throw only 60-to-70 pitches in his final spring tune-up, manager Davey Johnson prefers his ace get the rest now.
"Give him an extra day to recover [from Sunday's start], and then have a short day Saturday and then have his regular rest for the opener," Johnson explained. "And there's also the possibility we could have [bad] weather [in Chicago]. So rather than have it too long, that's the reason behind that. That's my decision."
The reshuffling of Strasburg's schedule also affects a few other members of the Nationals pitching staff. Ross Detwiler, slated to open the season as a long reliever, will get a chance to stretch himself out and start tomorrow night against the Marlins.
No. 5 starter John Lannan, meanwhile, will "piggyback" Strasburg's start on Saturday, throwing 60-to-70 pitches in relief. Lannan then may make a brief relief appearance Tuesday against the Red Sox at Nationals Park, setting himself up to make his regular-season debut April 10 against the Mets.
"I like where you're at; we could give you an inning or so in that game against the Red Sox in D.C.," Johnson told Lannan in discussing the plan. "So that will be a tune-up for his start."
6 comments:
A whole hour, and still no comments?
I have this urge to write: "Kilroy was here!"
Wonk.. Everyone must be out to lunch!
I was just waiting to post when the game thread goes up!
The interesting part? Still to come. CM Wang versus John Lannan. Detwiler gets a start and Lannan pitches in relief. Gorzo is not a long man just your standard left-handed reliever short or long.
Not sure why everyone keeps lumping Gorzo as a long man?
Your "long man" are Chad Durbin, Craig Stammen perhaps Ryan Mattheus and Ross Detwiler but only every fifth day per Davey Johnson. Durbin seems more like another Chad Gaudin even though Zim likes him I can't see him replacing Mattheus.
Perhaps Davey is trying to see if Lannan can do long relief when he is removed from the rotation. An additional injury would move Detwiler into the rotation. Lannan is holding Wang's spot.
so who should we expect to see start vs boston in dc?
I believe that's Jackson's game.
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