Flawed Strategy to Save Stephen Strasburg Will Doom Nationals' Playoff Hopes

The Washington Nationals are not wrong for sticking with the plan to shut down Stephen Strasburg soon, but it all could have been avoided if they had managed his workload better.

Now, the Nationals are facing controversy over their decision to limit Strasburg's innings this season as the club leads the NL East, and agent Scott Boras has been forced the defend their stance, per the Washington Post.

Boras said, via the Post:

"

This is the only industry I know where people are saying, "Excuse me, I want to risk a benefit of years of performance, years of productivity, for a one- or two-month benefit[...] What industry would someone say that? If you’re asking me, you’re taking severe risks if you violate the protocol."

"

Boras does have a point in stating that you jeopardize Strasburg's future if you continue to put him out there after he underwent Tommy John surgery in August 2010.

But the Nationals erred in limiting Strasburg's innings from the start.

The Nationals have been playing great baseball all season long. They finished April 14-8 and never looked back. They've been in the playoff hunt for months.

What the Nationals should have done was skip starts every once in a while with Strasburg. That way, they wouldn't be faced with this decision so early and could potentially use him in the playoffs.

Sure, they likely wouldn't be four games up in the division, but it's not like they didn't have other fantastic pitchers that could guide them throughout the season.

The Nationals aren't leading the rest of baseball in starters' ERA (3.21) by a wide margin just because of Strasburg. Jordan Zimmermann and Gio Gonzalez actually lead the club's starters in ERA (2.38) and wins (15) respectively. In fact, Zimmerman ranks second among all starters in ERA this season.

Even No. 4 and No. 5 starters Edwin Jackson (3.74 ERA) and Ross Detwiler (3.18) have been solid this year.

The Nationals have outscored opponents by a combined 105 runs this season, which just so happens to be the second-best mark in baseball. Don't tell me they couldn't afford to sit Strasburg every once in a while.

Now the club has Strasburg sitting at 139.1 innings, less than 21 innings away from his predetermined limit this season.

My suggestion?

Shut him down now and wait until the playoffs. That way you could still have him for about three starts before he reaches his limit.

Of course, that isn't going to save the Nationals. Even if Strasburg makes three starts in the playoffs, that's not enough to push them very far. They needed to have him for the entire postseason run, and that's simply not going to happen anymore.

The result?

The Nationals, despite having a great team overall, will fall short of expectations this season, simply because management forgot to manage.

Follow me on Twitter. We can talk about baseball together.