Washington Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg is reportedly set to retire as he continues to deal with nerve damage that has limited his ability to get back on the mound. It is a disappointing end to one of the most fascinating careers of the modern era.
While it might be easy to look at Strasburg’s career as a giant “what if” due to the number of injury issues he had, and with the way it is coming to an anti-climactic close, there was nothing disappointing about his career as a whole and what he accomplished for the Nationals. If anything, he matched the enormous hype that he carried into the league.
When the Nationals selected him with the No. 1 overall pick in 2009 out of San Diego State, he was regarded as one of the best pitching prospects of the modern era and a potential franchise-changing talent. He quickly made his Major League debut and struck out 14 batters the first time he stepped on a big league field. It only increased the expectations.
Unfortunately just a few months into his career he would need Tommy John Surgery that would be the first injury setback in his career. Those injuries would not only cut his career short now, but limited him throughout the bulk of his career and allowed him to start 30 games in a single season just three times, while topping the 200-inning mark only twice.
But when he did pitch, and when he was at his peak between the 2012 and 2019 seasons, he was as good as any pitcher in baseball. He would consistently strike out 10 batters per nine innings, was always posting an ERA in the low threes, and not only helped the Nationals win their first and only World Series title in 2019, but he took home MVP honors for that series.
If you could tell a fan base or a team that their No. 1 overall pick would give them a decade of brilliance and be a central figure in a championship, there is not one person who wouldn’t sign up for that on the spot.
Especially when you consider how No. 1 picks in baseball are far from a sure thing.
There is this perception that a top overall pick has to be a Hall of Fame talent, and that simply rarely happens. The average career WAR (wins above replacement) for No. 1 overall picks between 1965 and 2015 is 22.4 WAR. That is a strong career, but hardly Hall of Fame stuff.
Strasburg, even with the injuries, is ending his career with a 32.3 mark. That not only puts him far above the average top pick, but it puts him among the top No. 1 overall picks all time with the added bonus of, again, being a World Series MVP.
Maybe he is not going to end up in Cooperstown. Maybe he is not going to be remembered as a legend of the game. But he gave his team a decade of front-line pitching and a championship. That is the most you could reasonably expect from a No. 1 pick and Strasburg delivered it.
