In his final start of the season, Nationals right-hander Stephen Strasburg struck out seven batters and walked just one over six scoreless innings tonight as part of a 3-0 win over the Braves. He’ll finish 2015 with a 3.46 ERA and 155/26 K/BB ratio over 127 1/3 innings.
That ERA doesn’t sound overly impressive on the surface, but it does when you remember that he looked lost early on. He struggled to the tune of a 6.55 ERA through his first 10 starts prior to hitting the disabled list with a left trapezius strain at the end of May. While he later missed another month with an oblique strain, he posted a 1.76 ERA over his final 13 starts. He allowed more than three earned runs just once in that time.
This has been a bitterly disappointing season for the Nationals, but Strasburg told Mark Zuckerman of CSNMA.com that he has learned something about himself along the way:
Next season will be a big one for the 27-year-old Strasburg, who can become a free agent after 2016.
