Right-handed pitcher Stephen Strasburg has announced his retirement from Major League Baseball. He played 13 MLB seasons, all with the Washington Nationals. He led the team to a World Series title in 2019 and won Most Valuable Player honors for that seven-game showdown versus the Houston Astros.
Strasburg said in his retirement address, as shared by Nationals beat writer Mark Zuckerman:
“Today, I am announcing my retirement from the game I love. I realized after repeated attempts to return to pitching, injuries no longer allow me to perform at a Major League level.”
Statement from Stephen Strasburg: pic.twitter.com/fJ1rmTVs60
— Mark Zuckerman (@MarkZuckerman) April 7, 2024
However, injuries have derailed Strasburg’s career since then. He appeared in only eight games from 2020 to 2022 and won only one game. Strasburg’s 2020 season was over after two starts due to a nerve issue. A year later, his shoulder and neck injuries limited him to five games.
Worse yet, he was diagnosed with thoracic outlet syndrome, a rare condition that pitchers struggle to come back from. He made one more start in 2023 before a rib injury brought him back to the injured list.
Strasburg retires even if he has years left on his seven-year, $245 million contract extension. That contract was the point of contention for the delay of Strasburg’s retirement announcement. He would have retired in 2023, but neither party agreed to the settlement terms.
The Nationals selected Strasburg as the first overall pick in the 2009 June Amateur Draft. However, he underwent Tommy John surgery after 11 starts, diminishing the speed of his patented fastball.
Strasburg remained relatively healthy from 2014 to 2019, posting double-digit winning seasons during that stretch.
He will finish his career with a 113-62 record and a 3.24 ERA. Strasburg struck out 1,723 batters in 1,470 innings and has a career WHIP of 1.096.
-Lance Fernandez