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Stephen Strasburg was scratched from his second start of the Spring. Washington's 26-year-old right-hander needed to have a medical procedure performed on an ingrown toenail, so the Nationals' '09 no.1 overall pick took time to recover and then faced a mix of Nats' minor and major leaguers instead of starting in a Grapefruit League game.
Start no.3 for Strasburg was a four-inning, 61-pitch outing against the Detriot Tigers in which he struck out five batters.
"'Two-seamer was working pretty well," Strasburg told reporters, including MASN's Chris Johnson, after the game.
"[C]hangeup got better as the game went on and curveball, I was able to throw it for a strike today. Everything was working pretty well.'"
That outing left the veteran of five major league seasons with a 3.18 ERA (2 ER in 5 ⅔ IP), two walks and seven Ks so far this Spring.
Strasburg's fourth Spring Training start and his third Grapefruit League outing will be delayed, however.
Nats' skipper Matt Williams told reporters today, as the Washington Post's James Wagner reported, that Strasburg "rolled his left ankle" during a conditioning drill.
"'I don’t think it’s serious,'" Williams told the WaPost reporter.
"You start messing with other parts of the body and go out there and try to throw, as scheduled, 75 pitches, we don’t want to have any issues with the arm trying to overcompensate."
Instead of Strasburg, it will be A.J. Cole on the mound against Justin Verlander and the Tigers in Lakeland, Florida's Joker Marchant Stadium at 1:05 PM EDT.
Here are some of the tweets on Strasburg's twisted ankle from the post game press conference this afternoon:
#Nats mgr Matt Williams said Stephen Strasburg will miss tomorrow's start with a sprained left ankle suffered while conditioning yesterday.
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) March 21, 2015
Williams said Strasburg's ankle is just a little sore and he did not need a MRI. 2nd start missed for Strasburg this spring. #Nats
— Chris Johnson (@masnCJ) March 21, 2015
Strasburg didn't need an MRI b/c it's not serious, Matt said. FWIW, Strasburg was walking around clubhouse w/o limp, brace or wrap earlier.
— James Wagner (@JamesWagnerWP) March 21, 2015