Joe Nathan Flexed Veto Power

Joe Nathan was offered the Jim Thome way out of Minnesota Tuesday night but the Twins closer exercised his 10-and-5 (10 years of MLB service, five years with the same team) rights to stay put. Finding themselves 18 games out of the AL Central race, the Twins were nice enough to offer the escape option to Nathan and Thome. Thome was claimed on waivers by the Indians and, after waiving his no trade clause, was traded to Cleveland who is adorably still pretending to be a contender. Nathan, on the other hand, was given 30 minutes or less to decide if he would welcome a trade...

"The tough part was the timing," Nathan said. "They came to me with 30 minutes left until the deadline."

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"It seemed the smart decision for us to say we're not going to waive [the 10-and-5 rights]," Nathan said. "It's nice to be here and have a chance to possibly be with this club again next year. We'll see what that brings."

While the Twins were able to pass Nathan through waivers in early August, the team denied they were in trade talks about the 36-year-old reliever. I'm sure the Angels would have balked at any asking price for Nathan but surely the Giants (injured Brian Wilson) or Rangers (collecting arms like it's the Cold War) would have shown some interest.

Instead, Nathan will remain in Minnesota presumably because the Target Field walleye-on-a-stick is the bomb, yo. Nathan has a $12.5 million club option for 2012 that will get bought out for $2 million unless the two sides can come to another agreement.

Nathan is under two years removed from Tommy John surgery but is on the wrong side of 35-years-old unless he has presidential aspirations. Nathan's 5.02/4.55/4.21 (ERA/FIP/xFIP) pitching line isn't inspiring a lot of confidence even if this is his first season back from the TJ. He showed some promise in June only allowing one earned run in 11.1 innings but coughed up six in August over nine innings.

Maybe next year will be a nice rebound for him and the Twins. Or not. One thing is certain though. You can buy deep fried fish on a stick at every home game.

Strasburg Brings Back The Heat

I may have gotten a bit swept up in Strasburg-Mania last season. Can you really blame me though? The top prospect in baseball didn't disappoint after debuting with the Nationals at just 21-years-old. Stephen Strasburg threw 68 innings and registered a 2.91/2.08/2.04 (ERA/FIP/xFIP) pitching line. He routinely hit 100 mph and had a 12.18 K/9. So you shouldn't be too surprised that I tagged him in 29 posts. What can I say? I have a tendency to both buy and propagate prospect hype.

Strasburg's promising rookie season came to an abrupt and painful end though, like most of my relationships. On August 27, I had to write the post about Strasburg needing Tommy John surgery. I wrote that I thought Strasburg, like most Tommy John-ers, would return close to his pre-injury self but I worried about the velocity on his fastball a little.

Those worries were quashed after Strasburg made his first minor-league rehab start on Sunday. He hit 98 mph on his third pitch and threw 15 of his 31 pitches at least 97 mph. Strasburg said that he worked hard on his conditioning and is in a lot better shape...

“I think I’m definitely on the right path to throw 200-plus innings every year.”

Strasburg still has a ways to go, likely four more minor-league appearances before he reaches Washington. Part of his long road back is pitch selection, as Strasburg said he focused mainly on working his fastball in this game.

“I knew I wasn’t going to go out there and necessarily throw 100 every time, and I wasn’t going to go out and snap off breaking ball after breaking ball,” he said.

Strasburg won't turn 22-years-old until late this month so there's still hope he can break every pitching record imaginable. I may have made some hasty futures bets last year.

Curveballs for Jobu 5/25/11

Curveballs for Jobu is Offbasepercentage's daily trip around the ballparks.

Today's honorary bat boy is McKay Christensen.

White Sox 8, Rangers 6.
Offense might be down this year (it is) but it seems like everyday there is another player hitting 3 home runs in one game. Tuesday was Carlos Quentin's turn to join in the fun. He went 3-5 with 3 homers and 2 strikeouts. Adam Dunn showed signs of life going 1-3 with a home run and a walk. He's still hitting under .200 and slugging under .400 for the season. He's clearly out to sabotage my fantasy season. It's the only reasonable explanation.

A's 6, Angels 1.
David DeJesus came out of nowhere to hit a pair of home runs off of Dan Haren. It was all very confusing considering DeJesus had only 2 homers and a .232/.312/.344 line entering yesterday. With no save situation in site, Brian Fuentes had the night off from being lousy. The entire AL West is separated by 2 games.

Red Sox 4, Indians 2.
Josh Beckett dealt the Indians just their 5th home loss. Jason Varitek hit his first home run of the season. I also learned that Jason Varitek is still playing baseball. Indians young catcher Carlos Santana is mired in an 0-19 slump.

Reds 6, Phillies 3.
My pal Mev's (Diamond Hoggers) not so secret crush, Jay Bruce, avoided the golden sombrero and snapped the Reds 6 game losing streak with the go ahead 3-run double in the 9th inning. The notoriously streaky Bruce has just been owning the month of May with 8 home runs and a .333/.395/.718 line. Speaking of crushes, Chase Utley had a single!

Rockies 12, Diamondbacks 4. Part 1
Carlos Gonzalez is also starting to heat up in May. He hit 2 home runs giving him 7 for May with a 280/.389/.627 line. The bigger news out of this game was Jorge de la Rosa's elbow exploding. The lefty starter for the Rox tore his ulner collateral ligament which will cost him this season as Tommy John surgery is likely days away.

Cubs 11, Mets 1.
The Cubs aren't exactly in great shape either but it must be awful to be a Mets fan right now. I'd be keeping an eye on Mr. Met in case he's buying hundreds of feet of rope to fashion a giant noose.

Other games, but down here...
Orioles 5, Royals 3.
Tigers 7, Rays 6.
Yankees 5, Blue Jays 4. Jose Bautista homers, 0.
Twins 4, Mariners 2.
Braves 2, Pirates 0.
Dodgers 5, Astros 4.
Brewers 7, Nationals 6.
Diamondbacks 5, Rockies 2. Part 2
Cardinals 3, Padres 2 (11).
Marlins 5, Giants 1.

Strasburg Speaks

I somewhat blame myself for Stephen Strasburg's seemingly inevitable Tommy John surgery. My unhealthy man crush and unrealistic expectations must have put an ufair amount of pressure on him. Of course I assume he reads my little blog and read many of my dedicated posts to him. I should also point out that my ego is only two notches below Lex Luther on the Super Villain scale. Anyway, Strasburg had his cast removed about two weeks ago and had a little chit-chat with real media types on a conference call that I assume included an iPhone...

"I'm chalking this year up as a great success," Strasburg, 22, said in a 15-minute conference call with media members Tuesday afternoon from his San Diego home. "It's unfortunate for this to happen. But . . . I stirred up the baseball world well enough to have more people become Nats fans. And I know they're going to be there when I come back in a year."

He's right to some extent. I did hop on the Nats' bandwagon hoping to catch a National League version of the Rays in enough time to seem cool. I tried the same thing with the Brewers a few years ago but it didn't work out so well. Strasburg should bounce back just fine but let's keep in mind that it took Francisco Liriano two years to get close to his former self and the Nats' second best starter, Jordan Zimmermann, is just a year removed from his own TJ. But Strasburg remains optimistic about a speedy recovery...

"If I'm doing well, things could get sped up," he said. "There is a target date, but right now it's way too early [to talk about it]. It is a tough process, but I keep telling myself as each day goes by, I'm getting closer to being back out there battling and winning games."

I can't wait for his return. He was almost better than advertised in his first 12 professional starts. His 2.91 ERA was a little bloated according to his 2.10 FIP and the 12.18 K/9 is must see baseball. He's good for the game and great for Nationals' attendance. Godspeed young Jedi. Oh and Stras, I'd also appreciate if you left your over/under on Aroldis Chapman starts before his Tommy John in the comments. Thanks Stephen!

CJ Wilson Knows When Tommy John Surgery Is Needed

C.J. Wilson is enjoying his breakout season as a starting pitcher with the Texas Rangers with a 2.88 ERA but a 3.58 FIP. He's been good but also lucky with a .257 BABIP. What I didn't realize is that the left hander is also an expert on pitching mechanics. Wilson apparently called Stephen Strasburg's need for Tommy John surgery well before the first MRI...

"I was sitting in Baltimore [Saturday] watching and I said he needed Tommy John," Wilson said. "I saw it before it happened.

"I saw him moving his arm around, and then the way his arm was rebounding after his throw. When you see a guy with a healthy arm it just works a certain way. When you see something that isn't healthy, it's very obvious to the trained eye."

That's an impressive talent he has to foresee devastating elbow injuries before they happen. Of course, he goes on to say that every pitcher will get hurt except for Mariano Rivera because he has perfect mechanics. I suppose there's something to Wilson's theory though and he surely knows more about pitching than I do. We've all heard that the human arm isn't designed to throw a baseball and especially not 100 MPH. But I won't feel like a genius for predicting Aroldis Chapman's Tommy John surgery (it's September 19 and I will feel like a genius).

Wilson is familiar with the big TJ as he underwent the surgery in 2003. The Rangers pitched Wilson out of the bullpen until this year and it has work out well for them. As valuable as Wilson has been on the field, he might have some added value off the field where he has a knack for predicting injuries and successful surgeries...

"Everybody's going to get hurt eventually. Some guys, it's going to be their hip or their oblique or their ankle. People said Strasburg had perfect mechanics. He didn't.

"He'll be fine, though. He'll come back strong."

Dusty Baker think that quote is hilarious.

The Sky Fell: Stephen Strasburg Edition

It was fun while it lasted. The Washington Nationals ruined my morning by announcing The Phenom Stephen Strasburg has a "significant tear" in his ulnar collateral ligament which will likely send him to Doc Andrews for Tommy John surgery. This is easily the most disappointing news to come out of Washington D.C. since some political reference. I'm too distraught to even come up with a decent joke. Strasburg-Mania is likely to be shelved for 12-18 months after surgery and rehab. The good news is that he's still just 22-years-old and most pitchers come back almost as strong post TJ.

The bad news is the time that it takes to recover and return to effectiveness. Jordan Zimmermann made his first start last night for the Nats after a 399 day layoff from his Tommy John surgery. It wasn't pretty. He lasted 4 innings and surrendered 5 earned runs on 7 hits. Francisco Liriano had the surgery after the 2006 season and is just now returning to a resemblance of his former effectiveness. Josh Johnson might be the best case scenario for bandwagon jumping Nationals fans such as myself. Johnson went under the knife in August 2007 and returned to the mound in a speedy 11 months. In 47 starts between 2008-2009, he posted a 3.34 ERA and a 3.15 strikeout to walk ratio. This year, Johnson is having his best season with a 2.36 ERA which is right inline with his 2.53 FIP and he should contend for the NL Cy Young.

So is it reasonable to think Strasburg could be contending for the NL Cy Young by 2013 as a 25-year-old? I'd probably take that bet. His pure stuff is so devastating that if he only returns to live at 97 mph instead of 99, he will still make hitters looks foolish with his change up. But 2013 ain't next year and this is severely going to hurt his chase for Cy Young's win record and Nolan Ryan's strikeout record. I normally wouldn't care about such unlikely things except I'm such an impetuous gambler. My grandpa isn't going to be happy to learn I bet his house on Strasburg striking out 400 next season. Sure, I might have been caught up in the hype but I hedged my bet by taking the over 80 on Bryce Harper home runs next season. I'm not a fool.