I wonder how foolish the Nationals feel now for shutting down Stephen Strasburg back in 2012?

In 2012, I wrote a blog titled The Washington Nationals are out of their freaking minds.  At the time, they had the best record in baseball and were likely World Series favorites.  Washington voluntarily shut down Stephen Strasburg after 159.1 innings in an attempt to keep him healthy for future seasons.  Without their stud pitcher, the Nationals lost in the Division Series to St. Louis and blew a chance to win the first championship in franchise history.

A year later, the Nationals missed the 2013 playoffs and Strasburg spent some time on the DL.

In 2014, Washington won the National League East, Strasburg was healthy and threw a career-high 215 innings, but the Nats again fell in the NLDS, this time to San Francisco.

Last season, the 2015 Nationals failed to reach the postseason and injuries limited Strasburg to 127.1 innings.

And now, in 2016, the Nats are back atop the NL East, but once again they'll enter the playoffs without Strasburg, who's battled a sore elbow and hasn't pitched effectively since August 1.

How's that plan from 2012 looking these days?


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