Major League Baseball

Strasburg encouraging in rehab stint

Published Aug. 7, 2011 1:00 a.m. ET

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Stephen Strasburg exited mid-inning of an August start on Sunday.

This time it was a positive development.

Strasburg made his first competitive pitches since the projected cornerstone of the Washington Nationals walked off the mound nearly a year ago en route to Tommy John surgery. He went 1 2/3 innings as a member of the Hagerstown Suns, Strasburg’s day halted by a pitch count rather than a gimpy elbow.

“That was definitely the hardest part,” Strasburg said with a smirk. “I wanted to at least go two innings, but I guess they wouldn’t let me.”

Strasburg’s pitching line wasn’t anything special. The first overall pick from the 2009 draft threw 31 pitches against the low Class-A talent of the South Atlantic League. (Strasburg was on a 35-pitch or two-inning limit.) He surrendered three hits --- including a home run to Greensboro Grasshopper catcher Jacob Realmuto --- at Hagerstown Municipal Stadium. That’s a 5.40 ERA if you’re counting, but he got a no decision in a 7-5 Grasshoppers victory.

Maybe the most important number was 98, the speed in MPH on one of the radar guns.

“I knew the velocity was going to be there because of the way I was throwing in Florida,” said Strasburg, referring to the simulated games he tossed in recent weeks.

Strasburg said he likely won’t be 100 percent until spring training, but his goal remains to return to the Nats by season’s end. He will likely have five more starts, the next scheduled for Friday either at Class-A Potomac, Md., or Double-A Harrisburg, Pa.

“It’s a goal I made for myself,” Strasburg said. “Coming out of surgery, I wanted to come back and get the experience of playing in September. I knew it possibly wasn’t going to happen based on how I recovered. I haven’t had any setbacks so far. It’s coming back nicely. It’s just getting myself game-ready. That’s a long way off.”

Strasburg , 23, had solid command, throwing 25 pitches for strikes and striking out four. One of those strikes, however, landed beyond the right-centerfield wall.

“That first pitch he threw me was a changeup and that was like 92 MPH,” Realmuto told FOXSports.com. “I was sitting on a fastball away. Just stayed with it and I knew he’d supply all the power.”

It was Realmuto’s fourth home run of the season and the Midwest City, OK, product placed it tops among his career four baggers. Strasburg, who has been directed to work on his fastball and off-speed pitches and lay off the breaking stuff, took it in stride.

“Home runs are part of baseball,” Strasburg said. “I knew they were looking for fastballs. He put a good swing on it. You can’t really worry about it too much.”

Strasburg takes the same attitude about the 6,758 fans who packed the 5,100-capacity stadium. Strasburg skipped ahead to Double-A after his collegiate career at San Diego State and protracted holdout. Many here wore Strasburg’s No. 37 Nationals jerseys or shirts that were all the rage when Strasburg made 12 starts in 2010.

A few hundred fans filtered out of the stands after the game’s main attraction left the mound.

“I’m aware of it,” Strasburg said of his notoriety. “But not to be rude, it’s not that important to me. My goal as an athlete is to go out there and win. It’s great that people come and out and support me and stuff. I appreciate the fans. They make it a lot of fun for me and the other guys out there. Bottom line, my job is to go out there and beat the other team.”

Fans here are used to other big-name Nats players, like Ryan Zimmerman, who passed through town on rehab assignments in recent years. Because of that experience, the fans interviewed said they knew they weren’t likely to see Strasburg suffer anything near what he went through last August.

“We know he’s only throwing 90 percent,” said Mike Mullinix of Hagerstown. “He did damn good for what he went through.”

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