As exciting as Stephen Strasburg's very first Major League start tonight is, he is a long-term investment, and the Nationals need to protect that. Therefore, it should come as little surprise that manager Jim Riggleman told WFAN in New York that he doesn't expect Strasburg to throw more than 100 pitches tonight.
#Nationals mgr Jim Riggleman on WFAN said #Strasburg won't go to 100 pitches tonight, unlikely to go more than 6 innings.
The last thing that should happen is for Strasburg to be overworked at the beginning of his career, so as much as I'd like to see Strasburg pitch more, I realize this is probably a necessary move by Riggleman. We'll see how it works out.