Washington Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg, the 2019 World Series Most Valuable Player for helping the Nats win the Major League Baseball title, plans to retire, according to multiple reports on Thursday.
The 35-year-old American right-hander has been nagged by injuries throughout his 13-year career and will hang up his glove soon, according to The Washington Post, ESPN and MLB’s website, each citing unnamed sources in their reports.
Strasburg has not pitched June 9, 2022, when he made his only appearance of last year’s campaign for Washington.
Strasburg has never fully recovered since undergoing surgery in 2021 for thoracic outlet syndrome, in which constricted blood vessels or nerves can cause shoulder and neck pain.
An official retirement announcement is expected to come on September 9, according to the Post.
Strasburg helped the United States to a bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and was the top pick in the 2009 MLB Draft. He made his MLB debut for the Nationals in 2010.
But after only 12 appearances, Strasburg suffered a torn ligament that required “Tommy John” tendon replacement surgery in his arm and was sidelined until the final four weeks of the 2011 campaign.
Strasburg was limited in the number of innings he was allowed to pitch in 2012 to ease his comeback, and finally shut down in the last weeks of the regular season.
He led the National League in strikeouts in 2014 with a career-best 242 but in 2015 again struggled with nagging injuries before signing a seven-year contract extension in 2016 and being named to the MLB All-Star Games in 2016 and 2017.
In 2019, he went 18-6 with a 3.32 earned-run average to lead the NL in wins, then sparked Washington’s playoff run to the title. He won both World Series starts against Houston, striking out 14 batters and allowing only four runs.
Since signing a seven-year deal worth $245 million after that championship run, Strasburg has pitched 31 1/3 innings.
If he retires, Strasburg’s career will end with a 113-62 record and 1,723 strikeouts with a 3.24 earned-run average.
