In the Major League satire feature films we never got confirmation from characters Pedro Cerrano or Eddie Harris as to whether or not Jesus could hit a curve ball. It is, however, confirmed in the real Major League Baseball world that the Washington Nationals “Savior” is unable to save himself from Tommy John surgery.

Stephen Strasburg showed the world what unique talent he possessed the first time he stepped on the mound in Nationals Park on June 8 against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The most hyped rookie in the history of MLB proved his believers right and dazzled a national television audience, dominating the Pirates while striking out 14 hitters in seven innings.

While the youngster conquered and it was a classic case of a star being born overnight, what concerned a lot of MLB fans was the upside-down arm action that Strasburg threw with.

Fast-forward to August from that debut night against Pittsburgh and things have certainly changed. It appears that instead of pulling the Nats out of the basement in 2011, Strasburg will instead be rehabbing and working toward returning from Tommy John surgery.

White Sox pitching coach Don Cooper pointed Strasburg’s problematic delivery out after his first stint on the DL, comparing him to Kerry Wood and Mark Prior, two promising pitchers who never lived up to their hype due to a laundry list of injuries.

Despite the Nationals best efforts to protect Strasburg’s golden arm (they were going to cut him off at 160 innings and kept his pitch counts limited in the starts he made) he is now facing 12 to 18 months of rehab. That means we may not see Strasburg until Spring Training 2012.

Regardless of what the Nats did, pitching is a violent and unnatural motion, and players with certain deliveries will be more apt to get hurt no matter what measures are taken.

Strasburg’s injury is a huge blow to the Nationals. The organization has spent its time in D.C. as an irrelevant bottom-feeder in the National League East. Although they are heading toward another last place finish in 2010, Strasburg represented a future and hope; making the team and fans believe they would soon be competitive.

While it’s possible that the best case scenario suggests Strasburg could be ready to go in September 2011, the team would be incredibly dumb to rush him back since they will likely once again be far away from the pennant race.

Strasburg himself is determined to come back from the injury as quick as possible. He said, “right now I want to be the best at rehabbing and getting back out [there].”

Hopefully when he does, he brings the same heat and a bender that would even make Jesus’ knees buckle.  

Used with permission of the author.

 Along with contributing to Sports Climax, Brett Kettyle is the Atlanta Braves Community Leader on Bleacher Report and maintains a Braves column for MTR Media. Follow Brett on Twitter.

Copyright ©2010 Sports Climax, LLC

WASHINGTON – With an attendance announced at just 25,939 for yesterday’s return of Stephen Strasburg, the hype appears to be fizzling out. With empty seats scattered throughout Nationals Park, the Nats young and feared right-hander got rocked is a 8-2 loss to the Florida Marlins.

S.S. had dominated in his inaugural season before suffering pain in his throwing shoulder a few weeks ago. Since that flair-up, the youngster has been resting his arm and throwing a few simulated games.

Yesterday’s start was his first since July 21 and the hurler looked out of form from the start when Dan Uggla hit a two-run shot over the left field wall in the top of the first inning.

At times the Marlins looked like they had Kryptonite bats, ripping the leather off the ball and by the 5^th inning, the Nats manager had seen enough and yanked Strasburg.

His stats at the end of the day included just 4 1/3 innings and 6 earned runs on 84 pitches.

“The arm felt really good. Nice and loose. I felt 100 percent. I didn’t know where [the pitches] were going today,” Strasburg said. “It happens being on the DL, coming back maybe expecting a little too much of myself. It kind of got to my head a little bit out there. I’m going to keep things simple next time.”

“It’s his first start back since a couple of weeks ago, when something was bothering him,” Uggla said. “He was out there, kind of feeling for it. His command wasn’t as good as the first time we faced him. His stuff was there, though. His fastball is explosive. His curveball had good break on it. The biggest difference was his command.”

The Nationals dropped to 49-64 with the loss.

Used with permission of the author.

Jay Donetelli is a Tampa-based freelance sportswriter and contributor to Sports Climax. With an opinion sharper than an Ovechkin skate blade with the sting of an Ali jab, Donetelli has a loyal cult of readers who have found a way to love him.

Copyright ©2010 Sports Climax, LLC