Strasburg to begin rehab assignment

The most hyped prospect that I have ever encountered since getting serious about the game in about 2008 is entering his rehab assignment in A-ball after having elbow reconstructive surgery just 11 months prior. Strasburg came out of the gates blazing once called up to the Nationals but subsequently blew out his elbow not long after leading to Tommy John surgery and a lost year. In the meantime however, Strasburg has been reported to have upped his workout regimen in an effort to increase his durability and endurance during games. Strasburg told reporters he believed the reason he was injured last year was due to fatigue later on in games that put additional stress on his elbow leading to the surgery. This would make sense in some fashion, because if you are not getting on top of the ball driving it downwards, it puts additional stress on your elbow to keep the ball from rising up and out of the strike zone.

Although logical, I don't have a short memory and a lot of scouts and talent evaluators don't either. The initial prognosis of Strasburg's mechanics are not very good dating back to his days as a minor league prospect. The stuff is unquestioned, his legs and midsection are strong and durable which help create the ability to throw at the velocity that he does throughout his outings. However when you take a look at his arm action and upper body separation throughout his delivery.. it has a tremendous resemblance to another stud turned burnout: Mark Prior. That's a scary comp, but looking at video of the two side by side, just looking at their arm action, you'll see where it comes from.

The delivery looks smooth to the casual observer, although Strasburg is much more of a max effort guy than Prior. However effort level (although relatively important) isn't as important as how someone is proficient with their key mechanical points. For a good example of this, watch Tim Lincecum. Although very high in effort, he's mechanically sound at the critical points in his delivery. If he weren't, I can say with almost certainty that he would have been hurt several times now with the amount of splitters he tosses during each game.

Much like many other baseball fans, I got chills watching his debut against Pittsburgh. Every one of his 14 strikeouts weren't just dominant, they were overpowering. It would be awesome to see the Nationals with Strasburg, Zimmerman and a core of other young arms leading an up and coming offense, but looking at the facts in front of me I don't see Strasburg staying healthy for any great length of time.