Stephen Strasburg is 30 year old. This is his tenth season in the major leagues. Next year will be the 10th anniversary of his spectacular MLB debut. Since then, he's notched 109 wins, 1645 strikeouts, has has 3 200-strikeout-seasons (including this one), and has a career 3.20 ERA and a 30.9 WAR.
That is not bad, guys. Compared to other pitchers with 10 years of MLB experience, it's not horrible- MadBum has a 32.4 in that time, Jake Arrieta has a 24.3, and Carlos Carrasco has a 20.7 It's not the best WAR of a starter who debuted in 2010, but it's not the worst either.
Strasburg could really be summed up like that- not the best, far from the worst. You look at the Nationals rotation, and two starters have better WARs, and numbers in general, then him. Max Scherzer has .8 higher, and he missed nearly a month due to injuries. Patrick Corbin has .2 higher as well. Even with the season he's having, with 201 strikeouts and a 15-5 record...Stephen Strasburg still can't be the best pitcher on the team. It's a problem he's had even without Scherzer, as Gio Gonzalez and Jordan Zimmermann were always statistical rivals of his.
And yet that doesn't mean he's bad. It just means he's unlucky. If Strasburg had better luck, he'd have 3 more 200-strikeout years, and possibly a Cy Young by now. He's halfway through his career, and if he continues at the same rate he'll cross 3000 strikeouts. Slightly tricky, yes, but...doable, considering it's Strasburg.
Meanwhile, the Nats are still the Wild Card favorite now that Anthony Rendon is back to hitting at superhuman levels, and now that Soto and Robles are both playing excellently. I do think this roster is very top-heavy, and the insane talent on top is doing a lot to hide some of the less-controlled players throughout, like Matt Adams, Yan Gomes and Brian Dozier. But...they seem to be hell-bent on the playoffs, and I don't think anything can stop them, even the Phillies.
Still, I'm glad Strasburg is having another great season. He just deserves more of them.
Coming Tomorrow- One of the many young fill-in pitchers in Cleveland.
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