Tragic news: A crucial player’s retirement was announced by the Oregon State baseball head coach because he left his contract to sign a new one.
On March 15, 2022, in West Palm Beach, Florida, during the Washington Nationals’ spring training baseball workout, pitcher Stephen Strasburg throws live batting practice in the drizzle. The career of Strasburg, the 2019 World Series MVP whose injuries derailed it, was officially designated as retired by Major League Baseball on Saturday, April 6, 2024.
WASHINGTON (AP) After an injury-plagued career, pitcher Stephen Strasburg of the Washington Nationals announced his retirement on Sunday. He was named MVP of the 2019 World Series.
After winning the only World Series for Washington five years prior, Strasburg, who is 35 years old, has only pitched 31 1/3 innings in eight starts.
In a statement, Strasburg said, “I realized after repeated attempts to return to pitching, injuries no longer allow me to perform at a major league level.” On the Major League Baseball transaction page on Saturday, his retirement was noted.
Strasburg was dubbed “the Mount Rushmore of the Nationals” by general manager Mike Rizzo, who chose the right-hander with the first overall pick in the 2009 amateur draft.
“Prior to the Nationals’ game against the Phillies on Sunday, Rizzo declared, “He was as good as any pitcher in baseball—ever” when he was on the mound. Sadly, neither for him nor for us, was it what we had hoped for.
Over the course of 13 seasons, Strasburg went 113-62 with a 3.24 ERA and three All-Star selections. With 18 wins in 2019, he leads the National League. He went on to have a stellar playoff season, going 5-0 with a 1.98 ERA in six games. This featured victories in the World Series’ Games 2 and 6, held in Houston.
He was 1-4 with a 6.89 ERA in the majors after signing a $245 million, seven-year contract in December 2019, although he only threw 528 pitches over 31 1/3 innings. Thoracic outlet syndrome is a nerve and blood condition that required surgery for, among other things, the removal of two neck muscles and a rib.
Since his one start of the season on June 9, 2022, when he went 4 2/3 innings before returning to the disabled list, Strasburg has not made a pitch. For spring training in 2023 and 2024, he failed to show up.
Pitcher Patrick Corbin of Washington, who joined with the Nationals prior to the 2019 season in part to join a rotation that includes Strasburg, stated, “You just feel for somebody like that who was such a good player for a long time.” “The injuries and a few setbacks are regrettable. He made every effort to rejoin this squad and come back, but things were not meant to be.
While Strasburg and the Nationals were discussing renegotiating his contract, Washington began preparing for a retirement news conference in August of last year but decided against holding one. According to the agreement, he would get $35 million a year, with $11,428,571 of that amount being postponed at 1% interest. The delayed funds were due on July 1st, 2027, 2028, and 2029 in equal amounts of $26,666,667, plus $3,999,974 in interest on December 31, 2029.
When Washington selected Strasburg in the first round, many saw him as a franchise mainstay. Almost exactly a year later, on June 8, 2010, he made his major league debut against Pittsburgh, striking out 14 in a game that was soon called “Strasmas.”
After undergoing Tommy John surgery within three months, Strasburg missed the majority of the 2011 season. Late in the 2012 season, the Nationals benched him, and the team’s defeat to St. Louis in the NL Division Series increased the team’s detractors.
Five times during the regular season, Strasburg pitched 150 innings, with a career-high 209 innings in 2019. That October, that was prior to his striking out 47 times in 36 1/3 innings.
According to Dave Martinez, the manager of Washington, “he was a horse out there on the mound.” “He didn’t feel good every day, but every five days, he would give you his all, no matter what.”
In a statement, Nationals owner Mark Lerner congratulated Strasburg on his career.
Lerner remarked, “It was an honor to watch him grow as a player and a person throughout his illustrious career.” “He bestowed upon us countless memories that will endure eternally in our hearts.”
In his statement, Strasburg expressed gratitude to his teammates, coaches, and medical staff, as well as the fans, for their “unwavering support” over the course of his career.
“It gives me comfort to know that I gave it my all for the only team I’ve ever known, even though I will always wish there were more games to be played,” Strasburg wrote. “I feel incredibly fortunate and blessed to have gone on this baseball journey in the nation’s capitol with my family.”
