Strasburg's Season to Continue?

With the most recent injury to Steven Strasburg Nationals fans can’t help but think of Chicago’s Mark Prior. Earlier the pitching phenom took himself out of the rotation because of arm soreness and now it seems to be happening again. The question is now should the Nationals face the music, play it safe, and shut him down for the remained of the season?

In a recent article on CBSsports.com former Cubs savior prospect Kerry Woods was quoted as saying, “I’d question whether I would send him back out and let him pitch more.” Since the Cubs were in a similar situation with Woods maybe the Nationals should take his advise, otherwise they might end up with a really expensive mediocre closer instead of the long-term savior they are betting on.

Personally, I don’t understand the debate. To date Stephen has demonstrated an ability to take command of his games while maintaining a clear head on the mound. Toughness isn’t part of the formula and like Woods later suggested it isn’t like they are in a pennant race. In other words, why force the issue? Some opponents like Ron Dibble, the Nationals MASN commentator suggest that Strasburg just needs to suck it up and go out and pitch. Now I don’t think Dibble is an idiot he is merely upset that the organization is letting Strasburg manage his own actions as opposed to the coaches in the Nationals dugout. When he says suck it up, he means for Steven to keep pitching until the decision is made for him, after all he’s the Nationals investment. While this mentality is a bit old school it can be understood to a degree. However, if Dibble would like us to believe that in this day and age professional athletes don’t dictate their own playing time, he is sorely mistaken.

In the end it would be safe to leave the judgment up to those trainers and doctors in charge of Strasburg’s health. Then the ultimate decision is up to Riggleman and Rizzo but if he were my future I would probably shut him down and work on building up endurance and toughness during the off-season.

The Alex Smith Debate

Last night I was catching some preseason action with some friends and we got into a heated debate about my beloved 49ers. The debate raged over whether or not Alex Smith would have been a more productive quarterback in another system had he been drafted 1st overall by a team in a better position then San Francisco. A buddy simply argued that had the 49ers been smarter about their draft choice they could have ended up with Aaron Rodgers instead of the seemingly handicapped Alex Smith. He went on to suggest that a system run by Rodgers would have made the 49ers a much better team from the start.


While there is ample truth to the notion that Smith is far from Rodgers status it isn't hard for me to believe that in the final year of his monstrous contract that he can and will be productive enough to get San Francisco a divisional crown. Does this mean he will inevitably guide them to the Super Bowl? Don't be silly, I'm a 49er fan not an idiot. There are several points that clarify my position.

Smith has been under the same system now for a little over two years. Prior to Mike Singletary the 49ers coaching staff could be explained as comical at best. Each year the teams offensive schemes would be disrupted as a new head coach, quarterbacks coach or offensive coordinator would be brought in to "cure" Smith's problems. Did no one stop and think that these actions might actually be contributing to them?

Smith has also had to deal with the dilemma of not having a protective offensive line. Management can be blamed here. When a team is rebuilding it becomes imperative that things be rebuilt from the inside out. In other words, the team should have reconstructed their offensive line first. By not doing so Alex spent much of his first three seasons absorbing an enormous amount of hits forcing him to make ill decisions and force the ball down the field. However, if we look at last season’s production we find much better numbers that show his ability to remain productive from game to game.

Finally, Smith suffered a season ending injury that limited his steps in Singletary's new system. Think about it this way, had Smith been able to drop back in the pocket without being rushed or sacked 3 times out of every 4 he might not have needed surgery to repair his arm. We all know that injuries set quarterbacks back. Look at Carson Palmer, his horrible injury against the Steelers in the playoffs set him back to the point where he still might not recover enough to become the quarterback we all saw the potential for. Alex Smith might not be the best quarterback in the NFL and he probably wasn't the best in his draft class but he was an unfortunate byproduct of a broken system and at the very least it leaves fans will limited or no faith in his abilities. The reality of the situation suggests that Smith can be productive enough to be more than a Trent Dilfer but substantially less than a Peyton Manning, and that is still good enough to get San Francisco back into the postseason.