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Washington Times' writer Ben Goessling just put up a brief Chatter post entitled. "Strasburg scratched from Rising Stars Game", wherein Mr. Goessling reports that the Washington Nationals' '09 No. 1 overall pick, pitcher Stephen Strasburg will not be participating in Saturday night's Arizona Fall League Rising Stars Game, having been pulled with what the Nationals described as a "strained neck muscle", but Mr. Goessling notes that, "The scratch is just a precaution and Strasburg is day to day," so no reason to panic...plus it just means the DC Faithful will have to watch until the ninth when the Next Flat-Brimmed Closer Drew Storen is called upon to do his thing...

(ed. note - "If you didn't catch it this week, Washington Post writer Tracee Hamilton talked to an anonymous AL Scout who gave the Post writer a quick scouting report on all of the Nationals' prospects currently playing in the AFL for an article entitled, "A Scout's Take on the Desert Dog Nats", in which the scout gave his/her take on the Nationals' second '09 1st Round pick:

"'He threw very well. He commanded his pitches; he's got two solid average-to-plus pitches. He's a two-pitch guy. He's going to be a set-up guy with a great chance of being there [in the majors] this year. He's very aggressive; he attacked the hitters: 'Here it is, here's my best, I'm coming after you. If you hit it, then you won the battle.'"

The AFL Rising Stars Game is going to be on the MLB Network at 8:15 pm EST Saturday night if you didn't already know, and we'll definitely be watching here in spite of the Strasburg news, so check back for the GameThread...")