Washington Nationals Reacts Results: Favorite memory of Stephen Strasburg - 2019 World Series MVP run

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In 2019, Stephen Strasburg went (2-0) in two starts in the World Series, posting a 2.51 ERA, 3.71 FIP, three walks, 14 strikeouts, and a .222/.259/.407 line against in 14 ¹⁄₃ IP, finishing up the postseason (5-0), with a 1.98 ERA, 2.39 FIP, four walks, 47 Ks, and stingy .221/.239/.368 line against in six games, five starts, and 36 1⁄3 IP that October.

With his work, which helped the club bring a World Series championship back to D.C. for the first time since 1924, the ‘09 No. 1 overall draft pick became the first pitcher in MLB history to finish a postseason run with a (5-0) record, and he was named the MVP of the 115th Fall Classic.

Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

“Through all the adversity I think I’ve learned a lot about myself,” Strasburg told reporters in Houston’s Minute Maid Park.

“When you have the ups and downs,” he said, “I think you can learn just as much from the downs as you can the ups. And I think everything happens for a reason.

“I think I’ve really just become a stronger pitcher through all the adversity that I’ve had to go through.”

Unfortunately for Strasburg, the years which followed, after he signed a 7-year/$145M deal with the team that drafted and developed him between the 2019-20 seasons, were full of a lot more adversity, and injuries, which kept him off the mound.

He made just eight starts and he threw just 31 ¹⁄₃ innings after between 2020-22, and when the issues which plagued him weren’t cleared up by Thoracic Outlet surgery in ‘21, he had to make a decision, and according to a report by Washington Post writer Barry Svrluga last month, the now-35-year-old right-hander has decided to retire.

When we asked what your favorite memory from his career was earlier this week, in the latest SB Nation Reacts poll, it was Strasburg’s run in 2019 that was the No. 1 choice for those who voted, with 62% choosing his postseason run as their favorite memory from Strasburg’s 13-year career.

What did Strasburg learn about himself in that 2019 season?

“I think I’ve really learned that if I focus on the things that I can control,” he said after Game 7 of the World Series, “and I think I’ve learned that I’m a perfectionist, I’ve learned that I’m a control freak. And in this game it’s very hard to be perfect. It’s very hard to control things.

“But the one thing that you can control is your approach and how you handle your business off the field. And when you go out there and compete it’s just about execution. And you put in all the work in the offseason, in-between starts, to go out there and try and be the best version of yourself. And that’s something you can control every time.”

Strasburg’s 14-K MLB debut was the second choice, with 25% of voters (including this one for a variety of reasons) choosing the electric night of baseball in the nation’s capital as a favorite memory. His dugout hugs with Gerardo Parra (and Aníbal Sánchez) and his NLDS Game 4 start against the Cubs in Wrigley finished a distant third (9%), and 4th (4%).

Do you have other favorite memories which weren’t options in the poll? On Twitter (of X we guess), someone mentioned his “buzzsaw” quote, and his dugout dance as was tradition at the time, when he hit a home run in the 2019 campaign. Any others?

There were some national polls in this week’s vote as well, so we’ll include them here:

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