Mike Rizzo just appeared on The Sports Fix on ESPN 980 with Kevin Sheehan and Thom Loverro to talk about Stephen Strasburg's injury. A quick bullet-point recap:
-Rizzo said the team will be "ultra-cautious" with Strasburg and will decide whether he will make his next start after seeing him at the ballpark today.
-Rizzo said Strasburg had a similar issue in college, but added that Strasburg wasn't in any "pain" last night. "He wasn't in any pain, but it was something he wasn't comfortable with," he said.
-Loverro asked Rizzo to assure Nationals fans not to panic. Rizzo's response? "How can you assure Nationals fans not to panic? I'm not a doctor or a mind reader or have a crystal ball. We're doing everything we can to make sure we have a long-term pitcher, and he's doing everything he can." Co-host Kevin Sheehan also scoffed at Loverro's question, which I enjoyed.
-Sheehan asked Rizzo why the team waited until the second inning to post a message on the jumbotron about Strasburg being scratched from the start. "We got it to the fans as soon as we could. I was working on a lot of stuff and we had to move quickly to get the pitcher on the field. We got it to the public as soon as we could," he said.
-Rizzo admitted that the team would have asked almost any other pitcher, including Livan Hernandez, to try to pitch through the stiffness, but because it was Strasburg, and because of Strasburg's lack of experience logging heavy innings in the minors, they decided to pull him.
-Rizzo's final Strasburg thought? "From what the doctor tells me, it's inflammation that's fairly routine. The only thing that's not routine is that it's Stephen Strasburg."