Thanks!

In local news:

Last night Red Sox rookie Zach Stewart had an inauspicious debut, coughing up nine runs in three innings, the most runs in a Sox first start since Norwood Gibson allowed nine in 1903.

Tonight, Daniel Bard returns. Bard walked 29 in 31 innings in Pawtucket. Angel batters better keep their heads on respective swivels.

But on paper, the team we are now putting out there is barely a .500 team…. and against the league’s better teams, have a real uphill battle.

I understand the argument that he’s a hugely valuable resource they should product for the longterm, and I would never advocate making him throw 300 innings or the like. On the other hand, if you look at his game logs, they *have* been careful with him so far. Plus, I am not sure what legitimate incentive the Nats have to protecting him for the long run:
–He already had an injury, and protecting him this season is no guarantee he will avoid injury in the coming years
–As I understand it, a heavy pitching load is most likely to affect a pitcher the following year, not this year, so there is lower risk that he gets hurt during the stretch run.
– He will be a free agent in 2017, so the most the team could hope to get is another 4 years of service.
– His agent is Scott Boras, and this suggests that the Nats have very little chance of resigning him
–As much young talent as the Nats have, nevertheless this is a franchise starved for success. Moreover, for most teams the window of opportunity for winning the big one is narrow.

So, as I see it, if the Nats stick to a hard innings limit, they hurt their chances this year (a good year for them, too, as there is no dominant team in the league), all in the name of keeping Strasburg for at most four years before he signs with another team, on the hope that they can get another post season push or two in those years.

Nope. If I’m the Nats brass I go for the gusto this season and worry about next year…next year.