Stephen Strasburg

SATURDAY: Strasburg says he can’t promise he’ll return for the postseason, Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post tweets. Via MLB.com’s Jamal Collier (also on Twitter), Strasburg received a PRP shot yesterday.

THURSDAY 5:03pm: Strasburg will visit noted orthopedic surgeon Neal ElAttrache for a second opinion, Barry Svrluga of the Washington Post reports (Twitter links). That’s team protocol for an injury of this kind, which was deemed to have been acute (caused by one pitch) rather than from accumulated wear and tear.

3:15pm: Nationals right-hander Stephen Strasburg, who had an MRI today after exiting last night’s start in the third inning, has been diagnosed with a flexor mass strain, head athletic trainer Paul Lessard told reporters, including MASNsports.com’s Dan Kolko (Twitter link). On the positive side, he does not have any damage to the ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow.

While that assessment rules out Tommy John surgery, the injury is still notable, and there’s no immediate timeline for his return to action. However, the Washington Post’s Chelsea Janes notes (Twitter links) that Lessard doesn’t feel the injury will end Strasburg’s season — though he also couldn’t definitely state that the key righty would be back.

The flexor mass strain is a fairly common pitching injury, but its outlook depends quite a bit on the situation. Andrew Miller, for instance, only missed about a month earlier this year — though he likely had a shorter road back as a reliever. But more severe forms of the injury can require surgery, as was the case previously for Homer Bailey. Flexor issues more or less ended Cliff Lee’s career. And flexor mass problems can be a precursor to Tommy John surgery, as occurred this year with Carson Smith. Other pitchers who have recently had some kind of injury to the flexor tendon or muscle include Aaron Nola, Wade Davis, and George Kontos.

Clearly, the Nats will be relieved that another TJ procedure isn’t immediately on the horizon. That would have been a major blow given that the club struck earlier this year to keep Strasburg off of the market with a seven-year, $175MM extension. If Strasburg had required a second UCL replacement, odds are he’d have missed all of 2017 and possibly a bit of 2018 as well — assuming he was able to progress well.

That’s not to minimize the immediate loss. Washington obviously viewed Strasburg as a part of its postseason rotation. Though a pair of rough, recent outings inflated his ERA, the 28-year-old has been stellar for most of the season. There are plenty of candidates to take over — the D.C. depth chart shows a variety of intriguing arms — but none will hold the same promise as Strasburg. While it is still too soon to write off a return, it would be a tall order for Strasburg to heal entirely and ramp all the way back up to carry a major workload this fall.

SEPT. 8: Nationals manager Dusty Baker told reporters last night, including Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post, that Strasburg felt a “pinch in the back of his elbow” and will undergo an MRI to evaluate the damage today. While the news is a gut punch for Nationals fans who were relieved when Strasburg’s recent DL stint proved to be minimal, Baker insisted that Strasburg didn’t rush back and wasn’t trying to pitch through something when further rest was required.

“He wasn’t trying to be a hero,”  said Baker (via Janes). “He said that he felt fine. But a lot of times you really don’t know until you get into action. … We thought everything was fine because [Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos] said he was throwing the heck out of the ball. He said his changeup was outstanding, and he had good command. And usually if something’s wrong, you don’t have command. So we’re hoping that it’s something minor, but again we’ll find out more tomorrow.”

SEPT. 7: In his first start back from the disabled list due to elbow soreness, Stephen Strasburg exited in the contest after throwing 2 1/3 scoreless innings. Strasburg winced after his second-to-last pitch (as MASNsports.com’s Mark Zuckerman tweets) and was visited by pitching coach Mike Maddux and Nationals trainer Paul Lessard before leaving the mound and being replaced by left-hander Sean Burnett.

Following Strasburg’s initial placement on the disabled list, it was reported that his DL stint was precautionary and that the 28-year-old would have continued pitching were the postseason already at hand. He returned in just over the minimum 15 days and looked sharp tonight in his first outing prior to his exit. In 2 1/3 innings, he held the Braves scoreless on a pair of hits with no walks and four strikeouts, running his fastball up to 97 mph along the way.

It’s impossible to know how long tonight’s apparent injury will sideline Strasburg, if at all, just yet. The Nationals’ significant lead on the NL East (eight games) should ensure that they take home the division title with or without Strasburg, but his absence from the postseason rotation would be notable. Both Max Scherzer and Tanner Roark would figure to be locks, but left-hander Gio Gonzalez has struggled considerably after a dominant April, while righty Joe Ross is on the disabled list. Rookies A.J. Cole, Reynaldo Lopez and Lucas Giolito, meanwhile each lack experience, and the latter two have struggled to ERAs north of 5.00 in their first big league seasons.

Certainly, the Nationals organization and fans alike are holding their collective breaths as they await further evaluation. Strasburg inked a seven-year, $175MM contract extension earlier this season, surprising many with his decision to pass on the option to explore free agency at season’s end. That massive extension begins next season.