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Nationals' Stephen Strasburg update: Strasburg visited chiropractor, next start depends on bullpen

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Washington Nationals' starter Stephen Strasburg gave fans in the nation's capital a scare when he left his last outing after just three innings with discomfort in the area around his right shoulder blade. Matt Williams gave an update this afternoon...

By Patrick Reddington
Patrick Smith/Getty Images

In the immediate aftermath of Stephen Strasburg's brief, grimace-filled three-inning outing against the Miami Marlins in the nation's capital this week, both the right-hander and Washington Nationals' skipper Matt Williams said they weren't too concerned about the issue he experienced with his shoulder being a long-term problem.

"I feel like I could have gone through it, but at this point in the season you just want to get it right and not alter your mechanics too much..." -Stephen Strasburg on early exit vs Marlins

"He's got a little issue underneath his shoulder blade," Williams told reporters. "Had it last start. Could be an alignment issue. But as he finishes pitches it grabs him every once in a while.

"Tonight it got a little bit worse. So we'll have to have the chiropractor look at him. Shoulder is good, elbow is good."

"I mean, it's something that's been lingering," Strasburg said.

"I just felt it more and more, and I feel like it was something that -- I feel like I could have gone through it, but at this point in the season you just want to get it right and not alter your mechanics too much and I think that's the big thing is that when I did feel it I started kind of feeling for it."

Strasburg compared the discomfort he felt to what happens, "... if you're driving a car fast over speed bumps, it's kind of a little irritation, kind of rattles the cage a little bit."

The Nationals' 26-year-old, '09 no.1 overall pick played catch on Wednesday, after the Nats' 7-5 win over the Marlins, but there was no update for reporters, though Washington Post writer James Wagner quoted, "two people familiar with the situation," who said, "...the issue is concentrated in Strasburg’s back and shoulder-blade area, and is not considered concerning."

FOXSports.com's Ken Rosenthal reported on Twitter that his sources told him it was more of a cramp:

Before this afternoon's game, Williams updated reporters in the nation's capital on Strasburg's status:

As noted in the tweeted reports above, Strasburg will have to get a bullpen session in before his next scheduled start on Monday night in Arizona.

"'It is what we told you,'" Williams said, as quoted by NatsInsider.com's Mark Zuckerman.

"'It’s exactly what I told you. We look to the alignment. And it’s what Stephen said, too. He felt like it was a little clunky in there as he was extending. So that’s what it is. But like I said, he reported today feeling pretty good.'"

Strasburg's bullpen session will need to take place tomorrow if he's going to make his next start, though Williams said there was some wiggle room with the possibility of starting Max Scherzer on regular rest on Monday and pushing Strasburg's start back a day.

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