It took four seasons and 54 starts, but Stephen Strasburg finally threw a pitch in the eighth inning last night. And it came against his hometown Padres, in San Diego, where he dominated as a college star at San Diego State.
Prior to tossing eight innings of two-run ball versus the Padres he’d never worked past the seventh inning, but manager Davey Johnson let Strasburg throw 117 pitches. That’s actually not a career-high, as Strasburg threw 119 pitches in a six-inning outing against the Red Sox in June of last season.
Strasburg had gone seven innings in a start 10 times before last night, but never was allowed to begin the eighth inning despite seven of those starts involving fewer than 100 pitches and three of them involving fewer than 90 pitches.
It’s safe to say that any development-based and/or post-Tommy John surgery limitations have been lifted and Strasburg is now just a normal pitcher (at least in terms of workload). Up next on the agenda: His first complete game.
