Jane Njoku

Stephen Strasburg, the 2019 World Series MVP whose career was stalled by injuries, has officially been listed by Major League Baseball as retired.

In August, a person who knew about the situation told The Associated Press that Strasburg would not resume pitching.

The MLB transaction list showed this simple entry: “RHP Stephen Strasburg retired.’’

A spokesperson for the Washington Nationals said the team would not comment until Strasburg has done so.

Strasburg was a hard-throwing right-hander who was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2009 amateur draft. He briefly rose to stardom, leading the franchise to the first championship in Nationals history. But Stephen has not pitched since June 9, 2022. His only start that season, lasted 4 ⅔ innings before he returned to the injured list.

He had surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome, a nerve and blood disorder that involved removing a rib and two neck muscles. Strasburg has thrown just 528 pitches in the majors since signing a $245 million, seven-year contract in December 2019 and did not report to spring training in 2023 or 2024.

Strasburg had a 100-plus mph fastball, making him a generational talent when he came out of college. He became one of the faces of Washington’s franchise after making a grand debut on June 8, 2010. Strasburg struck out 14 batters and permitted two runs on four hits with no walks against the Pittsburgh Pirates to win a memorable game that was tagged “Strasmas.’’

After he underwent Tommy John surgery early in his career, Washington shut him down late in the 2012 season. This was while he was 15-6 with a 3.16 ERA. Without Strasburg, they lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in the NL Division Series.

The long-term benefit of the shutdown did not manifest until October 2019, when Stephen went 5-0 with a 1.98 ERA. On Washington’s championship run, he won each of his two starts against Houston in the World Series, which the Nationals won in Game 7.

Strasburg went 113-62 with a 3.24 ERA in 247 career regular-season starts in the majors, all with Washington. He was a three-time NL All-Star and led the National League in strikeouts with 242 in 2014 and in innings pitched with 209 in 2019, which was his last full season.

Related News:

Tony Clark lambasts league’s new reduced pitch clock rule after rise in pitcher injuries.

Tony Clark, the executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association is frustrated because pitchers have been dropping left and right. Recently, it was announced that Shane Bieber would be out for the season due to Tommy John surgery.

But, Bieber is not the only one. Eury Perez, Spencer Strider, Jonathan Loaisiga, and many others are experiencing UCL problems. Many people point to the MLB’s reduced pitch clock as being the cause.

This season, the MLB reduced its pitch clock from 20 seconds to 18 with runners on base. Clark recently made a statement about the matter on Saturday, discussing his displeasure with the league for not protecting its players.

Clark stated that there was massive pushback to the league reducing the pitch clock, but they did it anyway. He is frustrated by the MLB’s ‘unwilingness’ to acknowledge there is a problem or even study the effects beforehand.

Tony Clark is not pleased with the growing number of injuries

At this rate, teams will have to dip into their minor league teams to find healthy pitchers. That is a problem for the league, and Tony Clark wants those with the power to rectify the problem.

Some of the best pitchers in the league are presently down with injuries. Justin Verlander is currently on rehab assignment and Clayton Kershaw is eyeing a mid-summer return.

Is too early into the season for teams to be worried about the number of arms they have. If more pitchers leave, more people will want the MLB to reconsider its pitch clock.