In an interview on ESPN Radio, noted orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews backed the Washington Nationals decision to shut down Stephen Strasburg in this, his first fulll season returning from ligament replacement surgery. Andrews, who has not examined Strasburg, said, "I would certainly take up for the decision. And I don’t know first-hand — there’s probably a lot of intangibles that helped them make that decision. But I don’t think you can criticize that one bit, to be honest with you." Click through to The Washington Post's D.C. Sports Bog for the full story.

Lucas Giolito, the Washington Nationals first round pick (No. 16 overall) in the 2012 draft, will indeed need ligament replacement surgery (Tommy John), as reported by Amanda Comak of The Washington Times. Giolito was examined by Dr. Lewis Yocum in Los Angeles on Wednesday and Yocum, the same surgeon who performed the procedure on Stephen Strasburg and Jordan Zimmermann, confirmed the original diagnosis that the 18-year-old right-hander’s torn ulnar collateral ligament required surgery. Giolito made one appearance for the Gulf Coast Nationals, pitching two innings, but complained of the same pain he experienced as a high school senior, cutting that season off after just a game and a half. Giolito, 6'6", 230, regularly hit 100 as a prep, but now his path as a pro will follow that of Jordan Zimmermann, Stephen Strasburg and Sammy Solis as high Nats draft picks to undergo the procedure.

"On Saturday, Washington Nationals General Manager Mike Rizzo ran into Stephen Strasburg’s dad, who was in Phoenix to watch the team play the Diamondbacks. Jim Strasburg braced Rizzo with the same question as the rest of the baseball world: What’s the deal with ending my son’s season — protecting his arm even though he feels perfectly healthy — because of some voluntary innings limit that Rizzo has chosen? "'Mr. Strasburg, don’t ask the question if you don’t want to hear the full answer,' Rizzo replied." - Thomas Boswell, Washinton Post. [LINK] • Washington Post writer James Wagner also had a great article today updating the battle between the Nats and O's over the MASN tv rights.

Both ESPN's Jayson Stark and Yahoo!Sports Jeff Passan have stories today looking at the Nationals' plans for Stephen Strasburg in his first full-year back from Tommy John surgery. If the Dick Vitale Strasburg story didn't push you over the edge and make you swear to never read an article on the subject again go ahead and click the author's names. Stark's story is linked in the title above too...

"The Nats have the top starting pitcher WAR in baseball and have led the league in position player WAR in July, thanks to an insane month from Ryan Zimmerman (10 HR, .434 OBP) and solid performances from role players Danny Espinosa (0.9 WAR) and Roger Bernadina (0.7). With Jayson Werth set to return from a broken wrist this week and Ian Desmond not long after from his oblique strain, Washington's reign as the top team in the Rankings may just be getting started." - SI.com